After waiting for the entirety of January to get his move out of Chelsea, it would be understandable if Olivier Giroud was feeling a little low today.
The Frenchman made it clear he wanted to leave in the winter window, desperate to find a new club and regular playing time to ensure a spot at Euro 2020.
At one stage it looked like he would get his wish, with Inter Milan keen and a deal all but wrapped up.
The Italians cooled, though, and in the end, Chelsea decided to close the exit door after failing to find a new striker.
It leaves Giroud in a precarious situation and, when analysing his situation today, L’Equipe say the prospects of France’s third-highest goalscorer are becoming ‘more and more obscure’.
The newspaper explains that while we will have to wait until March, when Didier Deschamps picks his next squad, to know his future, it isn’t looking good for him.
With Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi ahead of him at Chelsea, Giroud can ‘hardly expect’ more than a ‘handful’ of games between now and May.
Deschamps is watching the situation with ‘great attention’, but he will need a ‘great deal of persuasion’ to justify including Giroud in his squad for the Euros.
So how did Giroud end up in such a situation? Well, according to L’Equipe, some of the blame should probably fall on his shoulders.
They say he ‘took a risk’ in choosing Inter Milan as his first choice as, while Antonio Conte wanted him, Inter’s chiefs weren’t as keen.
He also ‘misjudged’ Chelsea supremo Marina Granovskaia and her ‘work methodology’, with it explained she had no intention of giving Conte, the former Blues manager any form gift.
Indeed, according to the newspaper Granovskaia was ‘surprised’ by Giroud’s confidence that he would seal the move to Inter in January, suggesting it was never really on in the first place.
Of course, that’s no use to him now, as the player faces a ‘big challenge’ to convince Frank Lampard at Chelsea and subsequently Didier Deschamps.
