da aposte e ganhe： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
da leao： According to Football Insider, West Ham are interested in making a January swoop for Olivier Giroud.
What’s the word?
The France international has been starved of first-team football this season under Frank Lampard at Chelsea, and has played just 120 minutes of Premier League football all season.
Both Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi appear to be ahead of the 33-year-old in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, and Football Insider now claim the striker is “growing frustrated with his fringe role” at the club.
The report adds Manuel Pellegrini is keen to strengthen his attack in January, and that Giroud is a firm target for the club when the transfer window finally opens in a couple of months.
Revival
Whether Giroud will ever be recognised as one of the Premier League’s finest strikers is up for debate. But what cannot be questioned is that he has been a reliable goal-scorer in the top-flight for a number of years now. In his time with Arsenal and Chelsea, he has scored 78 goals and provided 32 assists in 224 appearances in the highest level of English football, and despite being 33, could still represent a valuable signing for the Hammers.
With EURO 2020 coming up next summer, Giroud will be desperate to be on the France plane heading for the tournament. His chances will not be helped by rotting away on the Stamford Bridge bench. Heading to West Ham would give him greater opportunities to start, and perhaps more importantly for Pellegrini, he would come with a point to prove.
Indeed, not only would he be hell-bent on proving Lampard’s side wrong, the 6 foot 4 man will also be keen on showing he still has what it takes to be a French international ahead of a major competition – and that’s exactly the kind of motivation that makes a possible swoop for the veteran very exciting.