High flying Italian side Inter Milan have made a new offer to sign Chelsea forward Olivier Giroud after the club could not sign Napoli’s Fernando Llorente.
Giroud’s contract expires in the summer and has found it difficult to get game time since the arrival of manager Frank Lampard who prefers Tammy Abraham as his first-choice striker. The French striker has only made five Premier League appearances this season and has scored once in the Super Cup final defeat by Liverpool back in August.
The striker is desperate to seek out first-team football ahead of France’s Euro 2020 campaign after been warned by France coach Didier Deschamp that he might lose his spot if he continues to sit on the bench at Chelsea. This has made Giroud expressed his desire to leave Stamford Bridge in January.
However, Chelsea are reluctant to allow the Frenchman leave due to the knee injury suffered by Abraham and the failure of the club to sign another frontman during this window. The Blues are trying to agree a deal with Napoli for Belgium international Dries Mertens.
FutballNews recalls that Giroud has reportedly agreed terms for a January transfer to Inter Milan but the deal fell through due to price tag placed on him by Chelsea. It is understood that Chelsea want Inter to pay between £6.8m (€8m) and £8.5m (€10m) for the striker, but the Italian side do not want to spend more than £4.3m (€5m).
According to Sky Italia, Giroud is reportedly set to shun Chelsea training on Friday in a bid to finally seal a move to Lazio. The report add that the club’s sporting director Igli Tare is on his way to London to finalise the deal which will see the forward move to Stadio Olimpico. The Italian club hope to the striker on a two-and-a-half-year deal, worth an estimated €3m per season.
Newcastle and Tottenham have also been linked with the former Arsenal striker. The Magpie tried to sign him twice this month but he rejected a move to the club. Also, Harry Kane’s hamstring injury has led to Jose Mourinho desperately wanting to sign him on a short-term replacement.
Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has said that Giroud would stay at the club Giroud until the end of the season despite transfer interest from European clubs.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the weekend’s clash with Leicester, Lampard insisted that Chelsea has finished dealings ahead of the deadline.
“The window is 95% shut for us. The answer is probably no for the players you would ask about,” he said. When asked about Mertens potentially joining the club he flat out responded ‘no’.
“I wouldn’t say frustrated [about a lack of signings]. I wanted to bring players in, but i know how football has been,” he added.
