Giroud signs shock new Chelsea deal to end Milan rumours

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 4 Jun 2021 16:59 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea have confirmed that Olivier Giroud has had his contract extended by the club.

It had been expected that Giroud would depart when his contract expired in the summer.

Indeed, the France international striker had been expected to hook up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Milan only for the shock news on Friday that he became the third key member of the club to have his contract extended.

Previously, Chelsea had confirmed that head coach Thomas Tuchel had extended his deal until 2024 and that they had taken up the option in Thiago Silva's deal to keep him at the club until 2022.

Indeed, the Blues revealed that his announcement over Giroud has been a long time in the making.

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: "Olivier has been such a crucial part of so many big moments for this club, from his contribution to our FA Cup victory in 2018 to scoring 11 goals on the way to winning the Europa League in 2019. He has continued to score significant goals, and we will never forget his effort against Atletico Madrid on the way to winning the Champions League this season.

"With so much to still to play for, there was only one decision we could make when we exercised the option to extend his contract back in April."

Giroud to Milan rumours ended

Giroud struggled for playing time over the course of the season, although he appeared 31 times and scored 11 goals. Indeed, across these matches, he managed only 1,200 minutes.

He did enjoy some highlights, however. These particularly came in the Champions League, where he helped his side to a dramatic 2-1 win in Rennes then scored all four away to Sevilla. He would also grab a vital away goal in the last-16 against Atletico Madrid.

Nevertheless, there has been speculation that he would join Milan.

“I'd be happy if Giroud joins AC Milan, we need players like him - he's a winner," Ibrahimovic told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Chelsea's decision to take out a contract extension on the veteran, however, will end such speculation.

In total, Giroud has plated 119 times for Chelsea, scoring 39 goals and laying on 14 more, since arriving from Arsenal in January 2018.