It seemed almost certain that Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud would leave the club back in January.
But whether it was because Chelsea could not source a replacement, or whether Frank Lampard had a change of heart and wanted Giroud to stay – the bottom line is that he did end up staying and actually came into some pretty decent form before football paused.
The U-turn has been so drastic that Giroud has even extended his stay at Stamford Bridge by another year with Chelsea using their option to extend, as per The Evening Standard.
It has certainly been somewhat of a roller-coaster six months for the French World Cup winning striker, and he has been expressing his gratitude to Frank Lampard and the club after showing him faith.
As per the same report from The Standard, Giroud believes it was the best decision to stay at Chelsea whilst the global coronavirus pandemic took a hold of the world, deeming it unsafe to move abroad during this time.
He said:
“I simply seized my opportunity and I repaid the faith that the manager had shown in me.
“That’s why the club ultimately offered me the chance to continue my time at Chelsea and I accepted immediately because I like it here. I want to keep winning trophies and I want to continue to show the manager that he can count on me.
“Plus, with the whole coronavirus lockdown situation, I didn’t really feel comfortable with the idea of moving abroad and uprooting my family. I think a lot about our quality of life and we have a great setup here. I think a lot about my family now.”
