Ronald Koeman: Missing out on Giroud cost me the Everton job

Ronald Koeman believes he would still be Everton manager had he managed to sign Olivier Giroud in the summer.

Koeman, sacked this week following a poor start to the season, revealed he was on the verge of signing the Arsenal striker in the summer before the Frenchman had a last-minute change of heart.

"I had Olivier Giroud in the building," said Koeman, who lost Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United, in an interview with Voetbal International.

"That would have been perfect for us, but he decided at the last moment that he'd rather live in London.

"That was hard to swallow, you tell me where you can get a better striker.

"Lukaku was important to us, not only because of his goals, but because of his way of playing - strong, quick, direct.

"There was always the option of the long ball to him. Now we missed such a player, we had Nicola Vlasic and Wayne Rooney, players who want the ball in to feet."

Koeman also defended the club's huge outlay of around £150million on players over the summer.

"We sold Lukaku for £90 million - our most expensive purchase, the Icelander Gylfi Sigurdsson, cost half," he added.

"Of course, it's a lot of money, but in England you work in a world of different numbers. Players here all cost a lot more than they are actually worth. That's how the market works."