Arsenal new boy Olivier Giroud is confident he can make a significant impact at Emirates Stadium, but has played down comparisons to former Gunners star Robin van Persie.
Giroud arrived in North London after a £9.6 million move from Ligue 1 champions Montpellier, where he had netted 33 goals in 73 league outings.
Speaking exclusively in the October 2012 edition of FourFourTwo, the France international underlined the fact that moving to the Premier League giants represents a huge step up in his career.
"It's obviously a level up from what I was used to at Montpellier," Giroud explains. "It's a bigger club, so the expectations are higher in terms of technical ability and physical power.
"But it's the technical quality within the group that will make the difference for us. We do a lot of work with the ball and it's more pass, pass, pass here."
Standing at 6ft 4in and with a burly frame, many have suggested Giroud's arrival could see Arsene Wenger's side adopt a more direct approach than the one employed when Van Persie was their attacking figurehead.
But the Frenchman insists it will be him who has to adapt, not his team-mates.
"I have to adapt to the style that Arsenal have been known for up until now, and I want to fit into the team's style of play. But I'm a slightly different type of player to Robin van Persie."
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Giroud is yet to net for the Gunners, having featured in all three of their Premier League matches in an unbeaten start to the new campaign.
Read the full interview with Olivier Giroud in theOctober 12 issue of FourFourTwo, which asks 'is it over?' for Barcelona's dream team following Pep Guardiola's departure, looks at Mafia involvement in Italian football and goes to Cardiff to find a furore over the change to red kits.
Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf answers your questions and Rafael Benitez picks his Perfect XI. Subscribe!
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Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
