During the most recent winter transfer window, Olivier Giroud revealed he came close to sign a new contract with Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham.
There are still people who don’t value Olivier Giroud as they should, that is not the case with Tottenham Hotspur. The North London club was eager to sign him just a few months ago thanks to Jose Mourinho’s interest in the striker.
The Frenchman falls right into the category of veteran players that the Portuguese manager loves having on his roster. When the time was almost perfect for him to leave after two seasons, he nearly made the choice to switch clubs within the same city. Giroud has never felt properly valued by Frank Lampard since the English manager arrived at Stamford Bridge.
The club decided to sign Timo Werner and keep Tammy Abraham, both players who are considered better choices for the gaffer. But this has never stopped Giroud from believing in himself. The World Cup champion did entertain the idea of leaving at a certain point but he eventually decided to stay.
“During the last three days of the transfer window, I was in the coach’s office to find a solution. I was hoping Chelsea would find a replacement for me,” he told So Foot via Goal. “For my part, it was not the solutions that were lacking: I almost signed for Lazio, Inter… I was even so determined to leave that I even almost signed for Tottenham!”
He could’ve come earlier.
Giroud also revealed he was close to a move from France to the UK in 2010. But instead he decided to sign for Montpellier. “I had proposals from Middlesbrough and Celtic [in 2010],” he said, “but my agents advised me to leave an imprint in France first.” “I left [Montpellier] for only €12 million (£11m/$14m) to go to Arsenal, which is not a lot,” he said. “I was at Euro 2012, my wife brought me the contract in her suitcases… A great moment.”
Despite making the decision to stay this season, Olivier Giroud still remains as a Juventus target this summer.
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