Arsenal To Replace Giroud with Lukaku?

The ever-polarizing Olivier Giroud is probably in his last few weeks with Arsenal - it's clear that, although he's a good player, he's not good enough for Arsenal at this point in time, and there have been rumblings that he might be shown the door this off season.

Those rumblings got louder today with news - from the Daily Mail, mind, but news nonetheless - that Arsenal are in the hunt for a Romelu Lukaku-shaped replacement for the big Frenchman.  This shouldn't be a surprise - Lukaku's coveted by many teams, most of all Everton where he's done really well on loan, and there will no doubt be competition for his signature from quite a few teams.

Unfortunately for Arsenal, Lukaku's a Chelsea player, and it remains to be seen whether Jose Mourinho would sell Lukaku to Arsenal rather than to, say, Everton.  If it's a case of Chelsea truly selling to the highest bidder, it should be no contest - Arsenal can easily outspend Everton and the other teams mentioned as suitors for him.  But if Jose is going to Jose all over the place, it may not be as easy as offering the asking price and waiting for a thumbs-up.

Lukaku would obviously be a great addition, but there's a long way to go in this story yet.