Chelsea ‘confident’ Olivier Giroud will stay now that he’s playing more regularly — report

It’s a simple calculus, little ones. If they play, they’re happy. If they don’t play, they’re not happy. If they play, they’re likely to stay. If they don’t play, they’re likely to not want to stay.

Accordingly, the narrative around Olivier Giroud’s future has shifted thanks to him starting four of our last five games and also making an appearance in eleven straight. According to the Telegraph, Chelsea are “confident” that the veteran striker will not push for a move in January now that Lampard has demonstrated that he can be a “key part of the season” and will surely be “playing enough” in the months ahead to help him keep his place in the France national team for the upcoming European Championships in the summer.

Giroud has certainly repaid the faith with no fewer than seven goals in his last seven appearances, including a four-spot against Sevilla — giving him a team-leading eight (jointly with Timo Werner) — though as we’ve seen in the last couple games, his minutes also come at the expense of some fluidity in attack. We know this, and it’s not a detriment to Oli himself as it does offer a different look to the team — though perhaps it shouldn’t be our primary option regardless of the 34-year-old’s golden boots.

He’s certainly needed, just maybe not this often? Should still be enough to get him to Euro 2020 2021.