Chelsea star Olivier Giroud makes contract revelation as Juventus boss confirms interest

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Olivier Giroud has revealed there is a one-year extension in his Chelsea contract and reiterated his desire to remain at Stamford Bridge this season despite confirmed interest from Juventus. In November Giroud was once again linked with a move away from Chelsea after his national team manager and former Blues midfielder Didier Deschamps told him he would need to find a new club by March if he was to make France’s European Championships squad next summer, unless he started getting more game time under Frank Lampard.

Things did subsequently improve for Giroud after he regained the starting spot up top and the 34-year-old has once again impressed this season, scoring nine goals in 15 outings in all competitions.

This led to speculation that Juventus would make a bid for the striker in January and when asked about a move for Giroud, head coach Andrea Pirlo told DAZN: “He’d be handy.

“We already discussed with the club what we want to do and if there are any opportunities.

“Maybe a striker who can rotate with our strikers.”

Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur used his Twitter feed to claim Giroud was ‘pleased’ with Juventus’ interest’ but in an interview with a French newspaper from Boxing Day, the player seemed to indicate he wanted to stay at Stamford Bridge until the end of the season at least.

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“The rest of my short-term career, I see it at Chelsea,” Giroud told Dauphine Libere.

“Now we know that things are going very quickly in football, for the good and the bad. I want to keep a cool head and focus on the pitch.

“I’m coming to the end of my contract at Chelsea next June, even though we still have one year with options.

“We will do the accounts at the end of the year.

“But once again, I have the ambition to win something with Chelsea this season because I have high hopes because of the quality of our group.”

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Giroud is unlikely to be short of offers after excelling for Chelsea since his arrival from London rivals Arsenal in January 2018.

The former Montpellier man has scored 37 goals in 103 outings for the Blues, although many of those have been from the bench and he averages a goal every 138 minutes for the club.

Giroud is now widely recognised as one of the best number nines in the Premier League, with no one scoring more headed goals in the competition since his arrival at Arsenal in 2012, with 32 to his name.

But despite regularly leading the line for France and helping them lift the World Cup, Giroud hasn’t always been appreciated by fans of the clubs he has played for – something he was asked about in a recent interview with Stadium Astro.

Giroud said: “It doesn’t matter who you are, I think everybody gets disrespected. Every single person and every single player in the world.

“There is nobody who will be praised by everybody. You know it is part of football, it is part of the game.

“Sometimes people want other players to play in your position or because they are jealous or whatever the reasons. I understand that with experience and I’m okay with that.

“Maybe sometimes I am underrated but the most important thing is the numbers. For a striker that is what matters.

“As long as I am efficient for the team and Les Bleus and making my family proud, the rest I concede.”

Chelsea have endured a big slump in form of late, only winning one of their last seven matches in all competitions.

It has led to increasing pressure on manager Frank Lampard but Giroud believes Lampard has “a lot of qualities’ and is enjoying playing under the 42-year-old.

When asked what it is like to have a manager who he has shared a pitch with in the past, Giroud told Stadium Astro: “It’s nice to have a younger manager. He is still learning through his career but has already got a lot of qualities to manage a team.

“I wish he could join in to play with us a bit more but his knee is not quite right at the moment so hopefully it will get better soon and we can play with him.

“To be honest he has good ideas and it’s always nice to have a manager who was a big player and who has won a lot things and can help you to improve.”

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