While there appears to be a belief Olivier Giroud could stay in England next season, the Italian press are confident the Frenchman will leave Chelsea and travel abroad when his Stamford Bridge contract ends.
He will be moving to Italy, more precisely, or, at least, it’s looking that way, if Gazzetta dello Sport are to be believed.
The newspaper dedicate a relatively big article to the France international on Wednesday, explaining plans are in motion that more or less line up with what Giroud wants from his next contract, and Inter could be the happy recipients of his services.
After their attempt in January, the Serie A club never stopped talking to the target man, who is ‘looking to guarantee himself a few more years at the highest level’.
That means, like Willian, he is asking for a three-year contract to whomever wants to sign him, also willing to reduce his wages to around €8m/year.
However, such an amount is still a bit much for Inter and Serie A, especially since he would be playing a backup role to Lukaku.
The Italians would prefer him to be on less than €6.5m/year (the top wages at the club earned by the Belgian and Christian Eriksen), and they would be prepared to offer him a two-year contract with an option for a third.
Said option would be ‘in the club’s hands or could be triggered automatically based on personal results (appearances, goals) that aren’t obvious’, meaning it would be quite demanding targets.
Despite this, ‘there is confidence’ within Inter this could be the ‘right offer’ for Giroud, leading him to being the next free transfer in a growing list (De Vrij, Asamoah, Godín).
Could we be edging closer to a completion? We certainly hope so, because this has gone on long enough.
