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Inter Milan were credited with an interest in Olivier Giroud for more than a year and he came close to joining them in January before Chelsea blocked his exit.

Since then, the striker signed an extension with the Blues and has seen his first team opportunities being limited this season.

On November 25th, we carried a report from Calciomercato, who explained the idea of playing under former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte at the San Siro ‘teases’ the 34-year-old.

Another report from the same website now claims the ‘idea’ of having a ‘physical centre forward’ has been the Nerazzurri manager’s ‘obsession’ for a year. Giroud could be one of the options, along with Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik.

Frank Lampard has expressed his desire to retain the France international, but Calciomercato states the Premier League side are ‘open to free’ the player ‘under the right conditions’.

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It’s claimed the Italian club had the former Arsenal frontman ‘in their hands’ a year ago and discussions can open with a view to signing him in January. However, a potential move will depend on the Champions League.

This would suggest Conte’s chances of having Giroud or another striker will depend on their progression in Europe’s elite club competition. The Serie A side are currently bottom of the group table after collecting two points from four matches and are five points behind second placed Real Madrid.

In addition to this, Inter will also have to battle with clubs from France as the attacker will not be short of suitors from Ligue 1.

Giroud wants to play more in the second half of the season and whether it’ll be at Chelsea or another club remains to be seen.