Olivier Giroud seems to go through the same cycle every year, so in many ways the big surprise is how he always seems to end up staying at Chelsea.
He’s often left out of the team earlier in the season as a new striker gets a chance to prove themselves, but he’ll work his way back into the picture in December just enough to stave off a January exit.
He’ll then play a solid role throughout the rest of the campaign, but a summer transfer is always thwarted by a surprise contract extension that seems to come from nowhere.
He looked all set for an exit this summer as his contract was set to expire, but he’s now tied to Chelsea for another year after another extension option was triggered.
This time it still looks like he could go and it’s purely a move from Chelsea to generate a transfer fee, and these quotes do suggest he could be off to Italy once the Euros are done:
Olivier Giroud: “Chelsea reactivated the clause to extend my contract on April. Moving to AC Milan? I liked Van Basten and Shevchenko… AC Milan are a big club and one of the greats in Europe but now I’m focused on the Euros”, via @nizaarkinsella ? #CFC #ACMilan
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 6, 2021
He’s been a solid servant for the club and he would surely leave with the well-wishes of the supporters, but it would be the best thing for him if he’s not going to play often next year.