Olivier Giroud is ready to leave Chelsea in the summer, unless he gets more game time.
The 32-year old striker and World Cup winner joined Chelsea from Arsenal last January, but has had to play second fiddle at Stamford Bridge this season, first to Álvaro Morata, and, after he moved to Atlético Madrid, to his replacement Gonzalo Higuaín.
Instead, he has had to reply on the Europa League for most of his starting appearances, scoring nine goals in as many games in the competition, including a hat-trick in the 7 – 0 thumping of Dynamo Live last Thursday night.
Despite those goals, he found himself back on the bench for his side’s trip to Goodison Park on Sunday, and was not introduced until the 66th minute, by which time his side were one-nil down.
The Frenchman is not happy with the situation and has signalled his clear intention to leave unless the situation improves, making it clear that he is not happy just to be a fringe player at Stamford Bridge. He said “I want more and more. I think I have a few nice years in front of me.”
Giroud has previously been linked with a return to France, with Marseille one of the sides that have previously expressed an interest in signing him.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.