While Olivier Giroud was linked with a switch to Spurs in January, the Frenchman ended up staying put with the Blues and has now insisted that ‘God wanted me to stay at Chelsea’.
With the 2020 Euros on the horizon, at the time, Giroud was looking for a move elsewhere to play more football, and Spurs looked to be the obvious destination (Football.London).
“I was supposed to leave in the January transfer window because I wasn’t playing much and I needed more game time to make the France squad for Euro 2020,” Giroud told the club’s website.
“I very nearly left the club but I really think that God wanted me to stay at Chelsea. The manager told me that he couldn’t let me leave because he didn’t have anyone to replace me. Everyone knows what happened so I won’t go back over it but the coach spoke to me privately and told me that he’d give more games.”
Chelsea reportedly blocked the potential switch across London and the Frenchman went on to enjoy a rich spell in the starting XI – typically scoring against Spurs in February (BBC).
Interest in Giroud came after the injury to Harry Kane away at Southampton in January, for which the England captain required surgery (BBC).
Kane has been on the sidelines ever since, leaving Spurs without an out-and-out senior striker. This problem was only worsened when Heung-min Son picked up an injury of his own in February.
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The 33-year-old Frenchman, Giroud, has since been rewarded a contract extension which will take his time at the Bridge up until the end of the next season (BBC).
Spurs Web Opinion:
Giroud would have been a class stop-gap for Spurs in January with Kane out injured. However, it is likely that the Lilywhites would be a whole lot closer to Chelsea in the top four race if the Blues had allowed such a move to happen, so you can understand why they blocked it.
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