Olivier Giroud to decide Chelsea future in mid-December

History’s repeating itself for Olivier Giroud, but unlike last season, it seems a lot less likely that he will stay with Chelsea past January this time. That’s not really due to anything he himself has done or hasn’t, but as his agent explained yesterday, the circumstances at Chelsea have changed drastically.

Not only is Giroud a year older, but the squad has much better options now at his position. The likelihood of him becoming a key player like in the second half of last season has diminished greatly.

“If the situation does not change at Chelsea this time around, there will be no option to extend the contract. So there will be the desire to go have fun and play. Last year there was still an option

“It is different now, especially since Chelsea were also able to make purchases unlike last season. So there was a need to keep the players because behind Abraham, there were not many forwards except Olivier and Michy Batshuayi in 2019-2020. Now the situation is different, so it will be easier for all parties involved.”

Then again, this time last year there also didn’t seem to be much doubt about Giroud leaving, and yet a move failed to materialize. Inter Milan were reportedly very close in January, but things fell through anyway.

Ensuring a different outcome is up to Giroud’s agent, and he’s soliciting interest from England as well as abroad.

“He played in France and was champion with Montpellier. Today he is looking for a place where he can enjoy playing, have a good quality of life and feel strong emotions. So if he can ever discover something new again, he will look for something new. The ideal would be for him to discover another culture.”

“A new English club with big goals could also make him think because the Premier League remains an extraordinary league, which offers a different sort of pleasure. So, if a great Premier League club came along, yes, he might think about it but he is ready to go and live abroad.”

That said, all this falls under the purview of the agent, while Giroud himself worries only about playing as much as he possibly can for Chelsea — and then maybe make a decision in a month or so.

“For now it is too early to know what is really concrete and what is not. The rumours of interest are of little interest to me.

“We will see what the situation is like in mid-December because before then, as the transfer market will open in January, it will be just rumours. We don’t know where the clubs will be or how Olivier will perform with Chelsea. We don’t know if there will be injuries or if there will be opportunities. There is no real work on this at the moment. We don’t know today.

“They have only played eight games in the league. Chelsea will play 11 games by January. Olivier belongs to his club, he is focused on the competition and we will see from mid-December what to decide, one way or another.”

Michael Manuello; source: FootMercato via Sempre Inter

Giroud has just 6 appearances totaling 154 minutes for Chelsea this season (1 goal). He has over twice as many for France (424), with five times as many goals to his name at the same time. But to continue with the latter, he will need to improve the former. Leaving in January is probably the only way to do that; and who could fault him for wanting to do so?