Chelsea chief Marina Granovskaia set to raise transfer funds ahead of summer spend

Chelsea: The first six fixtures of the 2021/22 Premier League

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Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud is on the verge of a transfer to AC Milan. The 34-year-old was out of contract at Stamford Bridge this summer, but agreed terms on an extension earlier this month.

Giroud moved to Chelsea from Arsenal on an 18-month deal in the winter window of 2018, and was due to leave the club for free this summer.

But the club’s director and transfer mastermind Marina Granovskaia signed a one-year extension with the French forward earlier this month, meaning that Chelsea can now extract a fee from the sale.

Giroud is to join Milan on a two-year deal, according to Sky Italia, and Chelsea are happy to let the centre-forward go. But the player insists he still has plenty left in the tank.

“I’m not finished, far from it,” Giroud told Le Figaro.

“I’m not finished, far from it. Count on me, grandpa is not dead! I’m almost 35 but have the hunger of a 20-year-old guy.”

Picking up a transfer sum for a squad player at the end of their deal is typically astute business from Granovskaia, with Chelsea also reportedly looking to raise funds for a big transfer move later this summer.

The Blues have been linked with a massive bid for Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, and Chelsea’s status as European champions could be crucial in convincing the striker that Stamford Bridge is the right destination for him.

“I have been having that for a couple of years now,” Haaland said of his anthemic alarm clock. “You know, it’s a very good anthem.’

“’I have been thinking about the Champions League my whole life, wanting to play there.

“That’s my big dream: to win the Champions League one day. Hopefully I can lift that trophy and that really would be, well, amazing.”

It would likely cost Chelsea a club record transfer fee to sign Haaland. But Chelsea boss Tuchel says he is open to spending big to bring in more top-class players this summer.

“Two or three [signings] could be very, very good. It’s a constant thing to never deny change,” Tuchel said.

“That always brings new energy, new guys who question the old beliefs, who challenge everybody in the training and in matches, so I think it’s a good thing.

“We don’t need another seven and another complete turnover because it’s also our job to keep on improving.

“But we have some ideas, of course, to make the group stronger, and I think this can always be a positive thing to challenge all of us.”
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