Premier League News Ticker: Arsenal Scout Admits Giroud Was Signed to Replace Robin van Persie

Worrying news this morning for Arsenal fans… Arsenal scout Gilles Grimandi admitted that Olivier Giroud was signed as a back-up plan in case Robin van Persie left the London club. How a player like Giroud, while gifted, is supposed to be a replacement for a striker who scored 30 goals in the league last season (40% of the club’s entire goal output), I don’t know. There are only a few players who could rival van Persie, in terms of new signings. And Giroud is nowhere near that level.

Meanwhile, England’s u19 team will play against Greece today in the semi-final of the u19 Championship, held in Estonia. The game will be shown live on GolTV with coverage beginning at 10:30am ET.

Here are today’s Premier League news headlines:

• Arsenal have Robin van Persie exit plan, admits scout Gilles Grimandi — The Guardian
• Spurs has confirmed that Jan Vertonghen has passed his medical to finally complete his transfer — Sky Sports
  
• Serie A clubs chasing Manchester City’s John Guidetti — Manchester Evening News
• Chelsea pair Tamas Kalas and Patrick van Aanholt join Vitesse Arnhem on loan — The Daily Mail
• Pay demands of Hugo Rodallega have seen him price himself out of a move to Everton — The Independent
• André Villas-Boas says Roman Abramovich ‘quit on me’ at Chelsea — The Guardian
  
• Hugo Rodallega is keen on a move to Fulham – but a potential deal is still far off — Sky Sports
• Newcastle’s Alan Pardew denies Barcelona contact over Yohan Cabaye — The Guardian
  
• Liverpool’s Andy Carroll interests Fulham, Aston Villa and West Ham United — The Telegraph
  
• Brendan Rodgers prepared for four years in wilderness with Liverpool — The Independent
  
• Why have the Glazers changed their strategy on the debt? A theory…. — The Andersred Blog
  
• Liverpool have not made approach for Joe Allen, says Michael Laudrup — The Guardian