Olympique Lyonnais re-join chase for Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud — report

According to French newspaper Le Parisien (via Sport Witness), French club Lyon are once again interested in bringing Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud back to his home nation. The one-time dominant force in French football were strongly linked with the Chelsea striker back in the summer already, so their supposedly renewed interest isn’t all that surprising.

Lyon have not had the best of times in the first half of the season, as new head coach Sylvinho quickly proved himself unfit for the perils of Ligue 1 and Champions League football. His replacement, Rudi Garcia, has managed to steady the ship, but they are still far from ideal position, sitting in 12th — although they are only five points away from 4th place Lille.

Given the circumstances in the league, as well as their upcoming meeting with Juventus in the Champions League Round of 16 next month, Lyon are keen on adding reinforcements to their squad. One of those could be Giroud, who once scored 21 goals in Ligue 1, during the 2011-12 season for Montpellier, in their first (and thus far only) title-winning campaign.

Something that apparently does not come across Le Parisien’s report, are recent reports indicating Chelsea’s interest in Lyon’s current leading goalscorer, Moussa Dembélé. If the French team are indeed keen on Giroud, then we might have a good pathway towards bringing the younger striker to Stamford Bridge, in a part-exchange for a veteran.