L’Équipe report that 33-year-old French international forward Olivier Giroud’s most likely and most preferred destination for next month’s window is to quit Chelsea for Inter Milan, after he revealed in an interview that it was “very likely” that he would be moving clubs.
In a recent interview, Giroud also opened the door to a return to France, although he will not be going back to former club Montpellier, even though he is close to the club’s president Laurent Nicollin who he speaks regularly with.
Last summer, Rennes and Bordeaux made enquiries, but were dissuaded by his €500k net a month salary demands. Aside from Monaco and PSG, it feels like only Lyon could offer to meet those requirements in January. OL’s main striking target for the moment is Valencia forward Kevin Gameiro, although it is by no means obvious at this stage that the 32-year-old will say yes to joining Rudi Garcia’s project in the middle of this season.
Although Giroud has publicly praised Lyon in the past, his priority is to join up with Antonio Conte’s side, where he would face a less ferocious competition for places alongside Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku than at Chelsea, as Inter typically play with two strikers. On OL’s side, the fact that his profile is very similar to current forward Moussa Dembélé, may also discourage Les Gones.
Further afield, Giroud has received approaches from the MLS, but France boss Didier Deschamps has warned him not to join this league, which only begins on 29th February. The clubs who had contacted the player are LA Galaxy and FC Toronto.
Recently, Scottish side Rangers have also approached him, and will play in the Europa League knockout rounds, but their attempts have virtually no chance of success in attracting the Frenchman.
Contacted by L’Équipe, the player’s agent Mickaël Manuello refused to be drawn to discussing speculation: “I never comment on discussions.“
