Arsenal’s first competitive meeting with Lille tomorrow night will bring a couple of reunions, with Gabriel Magalhaes and Olivier Giroud facing their former clubs at the Emirates.
Familiar faces may be in short supply, but both men have good reason to look forward to the occasion.
Gabriel left Brazil for Lille in 2017, taking the first step in a European career that brought him to Arsenal three years later. Loan spells at Troyes and Dinamo Zagreb preceded his breakthrough in northern France, where he made 52 appearances and gained Champions League experience.
He learned French along the way and still uses it to communicate with William Saliba.
“I think it’s going to be a very special day for me,” Gabi said at his pre-match press conference.
“I have a lot of love for LOSC [Lille]. It’s a special day for me to see the fans and to play against Lille, so I’m really happy to see them.”
Giroud returns to the Emirates having joined Lille last season after a short, unhappy spell with Los Angeles FC in MLS. Now 40, he’s still going strong, with 12 goals in 51 appearances for the French side.
“I never played against him, but I know he was brilliant when he played at Arsenal,” said Gabriel.
“It doesn’t matter who I face, I just want to win. I’m happy if he plays. He’s a big striker; we know his career, a lot of things he’s achieved.”
Giroud’s medal collection has grown considerably since leaving Arsenal. After joining Chelsea in January 2018, he added another FA Cup to the three he won as a Gunner, along with Europa League and Champions League medals. Then came three years at AC Milan, where he helped end their 11-year wait for a Serie A title.
The Europa League triumph came at our expense in Baku, which rather limits how enthusiastically we can tip the cap at that particular achievement.
There was also a World Cup winners medal in 2018, vindicating a departure he hadn’t wanted to make. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arriving and Didier Deschamps urging him to find regular first-team football, Arsene Wenger sanctioned a cut-price move across London.
“As I explained back in the day, I had to leave the club in order to play the World Cup 2018,” explained Giroud.
“We know the rest, the end of the story. I was really sad when I left the club, but I had to make that choice. That was one of the toughest ones in my career, but it was necessary and important for the rest of my career.
“It’s great to come back at 40 years old with a French club and to play against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.”
For some supporters, the Chelsea move and a few subsequent comments still cloud their memories of Giroud. Nevertheless, his contribution during nearly six years in N5 deserves recognition. The Frenchman, affectionately known on this site as the HFB (Handsome French Bastard), scored 105 goals in 253 appearances, many alongside Mikel Arteta.
“A great character and a great person to have around the dressing room,” was Arteta’s assessment of his former teammate.
“I remember when he came in, he won the Ligue 1 with Montpellier. He came here, and he really impacted the team in a very different way, a completely different profile than we were used to. What a career he had, and he definitely earned it as well.
“He was extremely intelligent first, and he was really, really a handful. Every time you had him on the pitch, you had a massive threat inside the box. He was very smart. He was so good at connecting with other players as well, and his work rate was phenomenal.”
Being measured against the strikers who came before him was never going to be easy, particularly in a team that grew increasingly laboured during Wenger’s final years. There were frustrations, certainly, but also some excellent goals, three FA Cups and a Beatles-inspired chant that usually required considerably less prompting than our attack.
Giroud remembers the football fondly too, and sees similarities between the side he played in and today’s champions.
“When I arrived at Arsenal, I improved a lot in my game, thanks to the daily basics we were doing at training – working on your technique, on your one-touch finishing, but also to link up the play, to deflect the ball, to play one-touch for your teammates, to finish quick in the box. That [Norwich goal by Jack Wilshere in October 2013] was a perfect example.
“I improved a lot in that way, to be the target man, the wall that players can use, to use me in the box. I had a very good understanding with the boys back in the day. That was an awesome game, quick, smooth and really enjoyable to watch.
“Obviously, now the game is even tighter in the box and the teams defend very low, so it’s really difficult to do it.
“I watch a lot of Arsenal still now and I can see some similarities in their game. They always try to put pace in the game in the last third.
“You don’t want to leave them any space in the box in the last third. That’s obvious, and that’s a great team. Obviously, I can see some similarities.”
Arteta’s praise makes clear that he knows exactly what Giroud can offer. Gabriel’s job will be to make sure Lille get as little of it as possible. There should be plenty of time for handshakes and reminiscing afterwards, preferably once Arsenal have taken care of the three points.