Celtic and Giroud; Football Sliding Doors Moment

In the winter transfer window of the 2009/10 season, Tony Mowbray was in the hunt for a striker to strengthen a Celtic attack consisting the likes of Aiden McGeady, Georgios Samaras, Scott McDonald and Marc-Antoine Fortune.

And in December, it looked as though the Englishman was going to get his man. From the depths of the lower divisions in France came a name that is renowned throughout world football now but was not so then – Olivier Giroud.

At the time, the striker was turning out for Ligue 2 side Tours FC. After joining the club in the summer of 2008, Giroud went on quite the scoring spree before Celtic’s interest was initially noted.

In the 2008/09 season, the now 36 year old netted 14 goals and assisted a further two in 27 appearances across all competitions. At the time, Giroud was just 22 and in the first half of the following campaign, he scored an registered an immense 16 goals and 3 assists in just 21 appearances. By this point, Celtic were well in the running for his signature.

Many outlets reported the move and in Scotland, the Daily Record revealed Celtic were the favourites to sign the striker in a £2.5m move. Even Giroud himself stated the Hoops were in for him but he did name drop a number of other sides such as Montpellier, Middlesbrough and Monaco who were also in the running.

As we know, the striker never did make the move to Glasgow and instead, saw out the remainder of the 2009/10 season with Tours, finishing the campaign with 24 goals and seven assists across 42 appearances in all competitions, winning Ligue 2 Player of the Year in the process. What makes these numbers all the more immense is the fact Giroud was putting them up for a side who finished 11th in the table.

It was clear in the winter that he wouldn’t be with Tours for long and when the summer of 2010 came round, Giroud eventually did depart the club, signing for Ligue 1 side Montpellier for €2m (Transfermarkt).

In his first season in the south of France, Giroud put up some rather respectable figures, particularly for a side who finished 14th in the table. In 43 matches across all competitions, the striker netted 14 goals whilst setting up a further five however it was in the 2011/12 campaign where he really kicked on with Montpellier and helped them to one of the most monumental underdog stories in French football.

Giroud played 36 times in the 2011/12 Ligue 1 season, scoring 21 goals and assisting 12 as Montpellier, who were 80/1 to win the title at the beginning of the season, triumphed to what was only the third major trophy in their history.

With the numbers he put up, Giroud would’ve evidently been an attractive option for several clubs across Europe in the summer of 2012. The 2011/12 Ligue 1 top scorer was just off the back of the best season of his career by that point and because of it, several teams were interested. It was Arsenal, though, who the then 26 year old joined for a fee of €12m (Transfermarkt).

With the Gunners, everyone knows Giroud flourished and became one of Europe’s top marksmen. He then moved to Chelsea in 2018, even winning the 2020/21 Champions League with the Blues, before heading to AC Milan where he is now. Moreover whilst being at all of these elite clubs, the Frenchman has been a standout for his national side and is now France’s all time leading goalscorer with 53 strikes in 120 games.

Undoubtedly, Giroud has developed into one of the foremost centre forwards in Europe since he opted not to join Celtic. His ability is almost unrivalled and his qualities are distinct therefore one wonders what could’ve been had the Frenchman made the move to Glasgow at the beginning of 2010.

His presence at the club may well have altered Celtic’s fortunes in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons although Hoops’ fans cannot complain about how their team has done since then. Moreover, several other gifted strikers have graced the hallowed turf at Parkhead since the Giroud near miss who have significantly contributed to Celtic’s successes in the past decade.