By Graham RuthvenOlivier Giroud knows the Emirates Stadium well. It’s where the Frenchman called home for six years as the focal point of an Arsenal team stuck between the latter years of the fading Arsene Wenger era and a fresh start for the North London club that never truly got started until Mikel Arteta returned as manager.By then, Giroud had departed. His illustrious career has seen him play for several notable clubs including Chelsea, AC Milan and Los Angeles FC, but it was in red and white while playing for Arsenal that Giroud made the greatest impression. During a difficult period in the club’s history, Giroud still managed to shine.He will surely be given a warm reception by his former fans when Giroud returns to the Emirates Stadium as a Lille player on Tuesday. At 40-years-old, Giroud is still a key player at a high level, starting four of Lille’s six Ligue 1 games so far this season. He will surely feature in some capacity against Arsenal in the Champions League.Giroud in Ligue 1 so far this seasonIt wasn’t so long ago that Giroud’s career at the top level looked to be over. Indeed, the Frenchman scored just four goals for LAFC, even losing his place in the starting lineup of the Major League Soccer outfit. Giroud struggled to make any sort of impact on the other side of the Atlantic.By returning to his homeland with Lille last year, though, Giroud was revitalised. While the veteran might not boast the mobility he possessed earlier in his career, Giroud remains an extremely effective focal point in the final third. There’s a reason Davide Ancelotti continues to use him in the biggest games.Ancelotti might favour Ayase Ueda from the start against Arsenal due to the Japanese international’s ability to get in behind opposition defences. The Premier League champions will almost certainly control the bulk of Tuesday’s match, limiting Lille to quick-transition moments and counter-attacks. Ueda might be a better fit for this approach than Giroud.Giroud’s record since returning to French footballNonetheless, there could be a role for Giroud to play if Lille want to use the veteran’s experience and nous to unsettle the normally formidable Arsenal backline. As a facilitator and a centre forward willing to occupy opposition defenders, Giroud has proven himself over countless seasons.Arsenal will have no regrets over their decision to move on from Giroud in 2018. Since then, the Gunners have grown into a team that expects to challenge on all fronts for silverware. Giroud won the FA Cup three times over the course of his six years at the club. Now, though, Arsenal are Premier League champions and Champions League contenders.In Kai Havertz, there is overlap between the German’s current role in the Arsenal side and what Giroud was expected to do in red and white. Havertz is also a facilitator, helping the bring the best out of others around him such as Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka. He’s also strong in the air, as Giroud was and still is.Giroud’s trophies won with Arsenal“First of all, a great character and a great person to have around the dressing room,” said Arteta when asked about his reunion with Giroud, a player he played alongside for the Gunners. “I remember when he came in, he won Ligue 1 with Montpellier. He came here and he really impacted the team in a very different way, a completely different profile than we were used to. What a career he had, and he definitely earned it as well.“He was extremely intelligent at first and he was really, really a handful as a player. Every time you had him on the pitch, you had a massive threat inside the box. He was very smart. He was so good at connecting with other players as well and his work rate was phenomenal.”When Giroud does retire, whenever that day comes, he will be able to reflect on a glittering career at the top level. At times, though, the Frenchman hasn’t always been appreciated, sometimes even by his own fans. There were points at which the Arsenal support bemoaned not possessing a striker who could be counted on to score 20 goals every single season.It didn’t help Giroud that he arrived at the Emirates Stadium as the direct replacement for Robin Van Persie, arguably the most potent centre forward in the Premier League at the time. He was unfairly seen as a symbol of Arsenal’s inability to compete for the biggest prizes as Wenger’s influence waned.As a World Cup winner with France in 2018 and a player whose longevity has ultimately earned him respect, Giroud should be appreciated for what he is rather than what he is. Arsenal’s fans will have, most likely, one last chance to show the gratitude their former striker deserved all along.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from the Champions League on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage, including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.