The Gunners defender says the former Montpellier striker warrants a place in Didier Deschamps’s side on the back of impressive displays in his debut season for the north Londoners

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny believes his club team-mate Olivier Giroud deserves a chance to start for France in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

The Gunners forward has scored 15 goals in 41 games so far this season after arriving at the Emirates Stadium from Montpellier in the summer.

Koscielny says the striker has done enough to impress Les Bleus’ boss Didier Deschamps to pick him in his starting XI for their game against Georgia on Friday.

“He did his job with Arsenal, he scores goals. In his first season, he has had a very good season. He should have more playing time in the France team, I thought he would have a little more,” Koscielny told RMC Sport.

Giroud has been unable to dislodge Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema from Deschamp’s line-up but Koscielny believes the competition between the two is only healthy for the team overall.

“Now we are lucky to have very good strikers in the France team, so the competition is there,” he added.

Even if Giroud continues to contribute to the side from the bench, Koscielny feels the Arsenal striker will always do his utmost to help the team. The Gunners’ attacker scored a 94th-minute equaliser against World champions Spain in France’s last qualifier.

He continued: “[Giroud] is someone who does not give up, if he plays for half an hour, fifteen minutes or five minutes, he will give the maximum to help the team just as he did against Spain.”