Giroud on fire! More goals than Lukaku and €115m cheaper

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 9 Feb 2022 22:18 GMT
• 3 min read

Romelu Lukaku finally ended his one-month goal drought on Wednesday evening as he scored Chelsea’s winner in their 1-0 victory over Al Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final.

In truth, there was little to praise Lukaku for. His goal was unmissable as the ball fell to him yards out with virtually an open net gaping. Meanwhile, his overall performance was sluggish and lacklustre – just like the majority of his appearances in recent months.

Lukaku is clearly unhappy in London – you don’t need to be a body language expert to know that – as his now infamous interview with Sky Italia in December showed.

He has scored just nine goals in 26 appearances for Chelsea since returning. He has delivered no assists.

This is simply not good enough considering Chelsea splashed out €115 million to bring him back to the club from Inter last summer.

His touch and build-up play have returned to the levels that were mocked at Manchester United. He doesn’t seem comfortable playing in a team that dominates territory and possession – as opposed to a side that counter-attacks and transitions more, allowing Lukaku to attack the space and be the fulcrum of the offensive line.

Meanwhile, the player that Lukaku replaced at Chelsea is on fire right now.

Olivier Giroud was allowed to depart for Milan for virtually nothing (just a €500,000 bonus).

On Wednesday evening, he bagged his second double in the space of four days.

He fired home in the 41st and 45th minute against Lazio in the quarter-final of the Coppa Italia to book Milan’s place in the next round.

On Saturday, he entered into Rossoneri folklore by also scoring twice in four minutes in the Milan derby. Giroud slotted home in the 75th and 78th minute to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory.

That result reopened the Scudetto race as Milan moved to just one point behind rivals Inter, although the Nerazzurri do have a game in hand.

In fairness, things haven’t been all plain sailing for Giroud at Milan. He started well, scoring twice on his home debut and netting four times by the end of October.

But then he suffered from injuries and his form plummeted. By the time of the Milan derby, he had only scored one Serie A goal from open play in four months.

That has all been overcome now, though, and Giroud is flying.

He has 10 goals in all competitions, averaging a goal every 128 minutes.

Compare that to Lukaku who has nine goals at an average of a goal every 201 minutes.

It can also be argued that Giroud, despite his 35 years of age, would have been more suitable to playing ‘the wall’ to Chelsea’s buzzing attacking midfielders and wingers given he is far superior with his back to goal than Lukaku.

What is for certain is that Chelsea would have saved themselves €115m by keeping a striker who has more goals and a far better goals-per-game ratio than the man who replaced him.