West Ham United have reportedly made a late offer to swoop Chelsea star Olivier Giroud away to the London Stadium, amid heavy links with AC Milan.
According to a report by Italian outlet Calciomercato, the race to sign Olivier Giroud is starting to heat up. West Ham United and New York City FC are both interested in signing the Chelsea striker and have tabled their respective offers to him, amid suggestions that he has reached an agreement to join AC Milan.
Giroud joined Chelsea from London rivals in January 2018 but has almost always had to play second fiddle to other strikers at Stamford Bridge. That has proven to be the case in 2020/21 as well, with the veteran forward behind Timo Werner and even Kai Havertz in the pecking order, although he did enjoy a brief spell when he was starting games regularly.
Nevertheless, the 34-year-old has a decent enough haul of 39 goals and 14 assists in 119 outings for Chelsea, directly contributing to a goal every 107 minutes. Giroud also played a part in Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League triumph this past season, which means he has now won 11 trophies in his senior career.
Giroud, though, is now set to leave Chelsea in the summer transfer window, with his contract set to expire at the end of this month. With a renewal not forthcoming, the veteran French striker will be embarking on a new adventure, with widespread reports linking him with AC Milan.
In fact, it has been recently suggested that the Rossoneri have reached a general agreement to sign the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner, who is already house hunting in Milan. However, while it may appear that the Serie A giants are on the cusp of signing Giroud, he has now received an eleventh hour offer from West Ham United.
The Hammers hold a long-standing interest in Giroud and have made previous attempts to swoop him away from Chelsea. The continued pursuit makes a lot of sense, with David Moyes having no recognised striker at his disposal following Sebastien Haller’s move to Ajax.
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While Michail Antonio has excelled in leading the line for West Ham, it would still serve them well if they made a move for an out-and-out striker like Giroud, particularly with there being no guarantees that they will sign Jesse Lingard, who turned his fortunes around superbly while on loan at the London Stadium.
Apart from Giroud, another Chelsea striker in Tammy Abraham has been linked with West Ham of late. Meanwhile, in addition to the London giants, New York City FC have also tabled an offer to the 34-year-old and it remains to be seen if either club can manage to secure his services ahead of AC Milan.
