- 17 hours ago
Giroud happy to stay at Chelsea and fight for game time
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:47 CDT
- 3 min read
Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has declared his intention to stay at the Premier League club and fight for his place in Frank Lampard’s squad.
The London club invested heavily in forward players in the summer transfer window, signing Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen and Timo Werner from RB Leipzig for more than £110 million.
That, naturally, has had an impact on Giroud’s playing time. And, ahead of next summer’s European Championship, there was speculation surrounding the striker’s desire to find another club that will offer him more game time in the second half of the season.
However, after starting for Lampard’s side in their midweek Champions League clash with Sevilla and bagging four goals, Giroud now seems more than happy to stay at Chelsea and fight for his spot in the team.
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“If I play a bit more than in the beginning of the season, I have a good chance to be fit and ready for the Euros,” said the French international.
“I had a conversation with [Didier] Deschamps and he said if the situation stayed like that, I will have to make a decision in January.
“I am pretty sure I can get some more game time and stay at Chelsea because that is what I want. I want to win trophies with Chelsea so basically that’s it.
“You never know in football, everything is going very fast, but right now I am very happy. I am a happy man and I am proud to be a Chelsea player.”
Wednesday’s start in Spain was only Giroud’s second of the season, as Lampard has tended to turn to the targetman as an impact sub in the Premier League and across other competitions.
At 34 years of age, many would suggest the Chelsea manager is using his towering striker strategically in a crowded fixture list.
However, Giroud remains adamant that he has the stamina and drive to match any of his younger teammates for more starting roles.
“I just have to show the manager that I am ready to fight until the end, as I told him at the beginning of the season, but obviously to be happy I need to be a little bit more on the pitch,” Giroud added.
“The gaffer gave me the opportunity to play and I hope I will have more opportunities again because I think I’ve shown him that I am ready to fight for the team. We all want to be on the pitch but we have a great squad.”
