Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud had been relegated to the bench for a brief period this season to give Theo Walcott an opportunity to play in a central striker's position. Giroud had made just one start in December and the new year also started on a slow note for the Frenchman, leaving him frustrated on several occasions.

The 26 year-old was quoted by ESPN Soccernet as saying, "It's true. I had a bad run in front of goal, and there were all the discussions concerning the contract extension of Walcott, who wanted to play through the middle. Then we played Newcastle with that 7-3 win. I came off the bench 15 minutes from time, scored twice and just missed out on a hat-trick. But it's better now."

Arsenal ace Theo Walcott has already convinced Arsene Wenger to employ him in a central striker’s role at the club and the 23 year-old is now planning to establish himself in a similar role in the England national team.

Walcott has been a first team regular at Arsenal since making his debut in 2006 and the player has dazzled in a right winger’s role over the years. However, following the departure of Robin van Persie last summer, the club have struggled to slam in the goals and Walcott has often stepped in to rescue the Gunners. Walcott insisted on a central strike role and despite his initial reluctance, Wenger gave in to the player’s demand, using the pacey forward there occasionally.

The transfer window ended barely a few days back but the British media are already looking ahead to the summer shopping market. The Metro report that Arsenal are planning for an early deal to bring in striker Alain Traore from Ligu1 side Lorient after seemingly failing at last hurdle during the winter window. The Gunners had been tracking the 25 year old Burkina Faso attacker for a while now and had reportedly made contact with Lorient over a £5m move late in January. But Traore picked up a thigh injury during his African Cup of Nations duty and the transfer fell through, thus making Traore the possible suspect when Wenger recently spoke about missing out on a target.

Traore has a history of being linked with English clubs as he spent a month on trial at Manchester United during his teens. Sir Alex Ferguson was keen on the player signing a permanent contract but work permit issues meant that Traore ended up at Auxerre, where he spent seven years until his move to Lorient last summer.

It was a good old fashioned 1-0 to the Arsenal as a deflected Lukas Podolski strike from a freekick helped the Gunners earn a crucial three points at home against Stoke City. Arsenal bossed the game from start to finish, but found Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic impossible to beat as the Bosnian produced a series of excellent saves in the first half of deny the Gunners. Arsenal were not quite as penetrative in the second half, but were good value for their win against a Stoke City side that created absolutely nothing of note with Wojciech Szczensy having a snore-fest in between the posts for Arsenal.

New signing Nacho Monreal was thrust into the starting eleven just 2 days after his arrival at Arsenal, replacing Andre Santos in the side. Arsene Wenger rung in the changes for this big game, making 4 more edits to his starting eleven from the Liverpool game. Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen missed the game due to injury with Laurent Koscielny coming in for the Belgian. Mikel Arteta returned to the side for the first time in nearly a month and partnered Abou Diaby in central midfield with Jack Wilshere playing in an advanced role. Santi Cazorla dropped to the bench as Wenger prepared himself for a physical and aerial challenge. Surprisingly though, Lukas Podolski was left out of the starting eleven, being replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is determined to land a new striker before the transfer window closes this week and Barcelona forward David Villa is understood to be the Frenchman’s top priority. Atletico Madrid’s Adrian Lopez and Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic have also been linked with a move to Arsenal this month.

When quizzed whether his side needed a new attacker, Wenger replied, “Quality-wise, no. But number-wise we are maybe a bit short. It will not be easy, though, because you do not find strikers who are good enough to play for us on the street.”

Arsenal defeated Brighton and Hove Albion  in the Fourth round of the FA Cup in a thrilling match that ended 3-2 in favour of the visitors. Olivier Giroud scored a brace that helped the North Londoners end the Championship side’s Cup campaign. Brighton showed tremendous spirit and played their hearts out. But Arsenal had too much of quality for the opposition in the end, and fully deserved their win.

Despite putting 5 goals past West Ham last night, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is keen to bolster his attacking options and has targeted Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic. Reports in CaughtOffside suggest that Wenger is preparing a £20 million offer to bring Jovetic to the Emirates as his first signing this month.

Montenegro international Jovetic started his professional career at Serbian powerhouse Partizan before making the switch to Fiorentina in 2008. He started his career brilliantly in Italy guiding his side to the Champions League for the first time in a decade. He has made over 100 appearances for Fiorentina scoring 35 goals, including 8 in 16 league games this season.