Ronald Koeman has revealed how close Everton were to signing Olivier Giroud.
Koeman’s 16 months at Goodison Park came to an end on Monday on the back of a poor start to the season that left the club in the relegation zone.
Ironically Giroud was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s 5-2 hammering of the Blues which spelled the end for the Dutchman’s time on Merseyside.
Everton had targeted the France international as a replacement for Romelu Lukaku, who joined Manchester United in a club-record £90 million sale.
The Gunners’ capture of Alexandre Lacazette pushed Giroud further out of the first-team picture at the Emirates Stadium and seemingly heading for the exit.
But his U-turn on a move to Goodison left Koeman reliant on Wayne Rooney, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and a previously exiled Oumar Niasse to score goals.
With only a combined three from their seven Premier League games, the former Toffees boss admits the failure to land Giroud was hard to swallow.
“I had Olivier Giroud in the building. He would have fitted perfectly,” Koeman told Voetbal International.
“But at the very last moment, he decided that he’d rather live in London and stay at Arsenal.
“That was really hard to swallow. You tell me, where you can get a better striker?
“Lukaku was so important for us, not just because of his goals. He had a certain way of playing as a striker – strong.
“He could hold the ball, he always had an eye for the goal, he was fast.
“If things were not going well in a game, if we could not play the way we were used to, there was always the option to use the long ball towards him.
“All of a sudden (when Giroud did his U-turn), we were missing such a player.
“With Nikola Vlasic and Wayne Rooney, we had attackers who want the ball at their feet.
“When you are struggling as a team with the build-up from the back, and we no longer had the option to kick it long, you know you have a problem.’’