Giroud confirms Chelsea departure ahead of Milan move

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 16 Jul 2021 18:40 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has taken to social media to confirm his departure from the club.

The France international is expected to complate a move to Milan in the coming days once his medical and personal terms have been finalised.

Taking to Twitter with a picture of him celebrating each of his three trophies with the club, Giroud said: "To all the Blues, to my teammates, to all my coaches, to the whole club, a huge thank you for these special moments.

"I'm starting a new journey with a light and happy heart. Our victories in FA Cup, Europa League and Champions league have been magnificent."

Milan will pay Chelsea €1 million, plus another €1m in potential bonuses for the 34-year-old striker.

He underwent a medical on Friday morning at Milan.

Though Giroud was a popular figure at Stamford Bridge and enjoyed a good goals-to-minutes ratio, he fell out of favour over the past year, particularly during the tenure of Thomas Tuchel.

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A transfer to Milan was proposed in January only for the move to fall through, while Giroud surprisingly penned a contract extension with Chelsea several weeks ago in order to keep him in London for another year.

However, that new contract hasn't stopped him signing for Milan as the Rossoneri will pay Chelsea around €2 million in total for his services.

Paolo Maldini confirmed the deal was done earlier this week.

“Yes, Olivier Giroud should arrive Thursday. Olivier is a champion, he’s done great things with France and Chelsea,” the Milan legend stated.

“He is a very reliable player and that’s what we are looking for, as we have the youngest squad in Serie A, so we need some with more experience.”

Where will Giroud fit in at Milan?

There is a giant Zlatan Ibrahimovic-shaped hole set to be felt in the Milan team in the early part of the season as the big Swede has been missing with a knee injury suffered against Juventus at the back end of last season.

He was actually set to join Sweden at the European Championship before the injury ruled him out of contention.

Therefore, Giroud should receive plenty of playing time, at least until Ibrahimovic comes back.

Giroud is 34 and Ibrahimovic is 39 so there is definitely the possibility that Stefano Pioli will rotate the pair as much as he can.

It is unlikely the Frenchman would have accepted a move to Milan to play second fiddle to Ibrahimovic having not played as much as he would have liked at Chelsea over the past 12 months.