According to a report from the transfer guru Gianluca Di Marzio, Lazio have emerged as surprise suitors for Chelsea’s outcast veteran, Olivier Giroud, and may pounce on his signature.
What’s the word, then?
Not only does Di Marzio suggest that Lazio might be joining the race for the Frenchman’s services but he also claims that the Biancoceleste have already agreed terms with the Blues.
And this is with Tottenham Hotspur’s interest taken into account but there is another twist to this story that could make the transfer extremely complicated.
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As the same source notes, Lazio will only sign Giroud if Chelsea manage to land Dries Mertens from Napoli, so the Italians are very much dependent on Frank Lampard first securing his new forward before parting with the old one.
Verdict
The 6ft 4 striker has somewhat fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge, often being kept on the fringes as Lampard’s third-choice striker.
For that reason, his 282 minutes across all competitions in 2019/20 don’t really come as a surprise but Lazio’s interest surely does.
The Biancoceleste already have the likes of Ciro Immobile, Joaquin Correa and Felipe Caicedo in tow and ready to lead their forward line, so Giroud would seemingly struggle for extra game time following this mooted transfer.
In fact, if he truly wants to start playing more regularly, Lazio may not really be a good solution for him. The same goes for the buyers – why go for a player they don’t necessarily need?
At this point in time, Chelsea would end up being the only winner in this complicated dance.
Meanwhile, Chelsea were also linked with another striker from Serie A just recently…
