Crystal Palace are stepping up their intentions to sign France international Olivier Giroud, according to reports.
FCInterNews have reported (via Sport Witness), that Italian side Inter Milan are also sniffing around for the available striker, however, the Eagles look to be making things difficult for the club.
Allegedly, Palace have ‘moved concretely’ for the 33-year-old, and are willing to satisfy the forward’s wages, which could put Inter’s move for him in doubt.
Within their report, Giroud is reportedly asking for one of two things from Inter; he wants either a two-and-a-half-year deal taking him to the summer of 2022 or a deal until 2021 worth a salary of €8m (£6.25m) for the season and a half. It is not clear as to whether the Eagles have had the same request.
Given that Chelsea will not allow him to leave for free as per the report, it seems finances could prove a stumbling block for Inter.
Palace will be hopeful that the Nerazzurri simply cannot afford the French striker as they could really do with some more reinforcements up top.
Even if the Italian side can afford him, you would presume that regular football is a must if he is to join, as he will want to impress as much as he can before Euro 2020. With the Serie A giants having the in-form strikeforce of Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku up top, it’s hard to see where he fits in as a regular starter.
Chelsea’s forward could offer more than one solution for the Eagles. Obviously, with just 10 goals scored from 12 games – the second-fewest amount of goals scored in the league – they will want more goals from a centre-forward. Being France’s third-highest goalscorer of all time and having 78 goals in 224 appearances in the Premier Leauge, there’s no doubt he could do that. After all, this is a man who won the FIFA Puskas Award for his strike against the Eagles while an Arsenal player back in 2017.
Furthermore, with a club legend in Wilfried Zaha struggling to find his feet this season – not scoring once so far – the hold-up play of Giroud could do wonders for the Ivorian winger.
The way in which the World Cup winner could bring the winger into play is something which could really kickstart his season. He is a selfless player, as shown in the World Cup, where his name was “among the first” on the teamsheet (per Stuart James in the Guardian) for his target man capabilities despite not scoring. Looking at what he did for someone like Antoine Griezmann, bringing him in to play and giving him the ‘freedom to flourish’ according to the Guardian, the ex-Montpellier ace does look to be a strong attacking weapon to use alongside a player in a free role.
As per Transfermarkt, Zaha has scored one goal from eight games as a support striker over the course of his career, a figure which could realistically be markedly improved on if he had a target man such as Giroud to float off, as the aforementioned Frenchmen have done.
While he might cost a fair bit of money, someone of the calibre of Giroud is only going to help Palace’s problems for goals.
Even if Jordan Ayew is having a really good campaign, he simply doesn’t have the experience of the 33-year-old.
Giroud’s talents may also be a huge help for Zaha as not only will he take more pressure off the Ivorian, as they will have another star to expect goals from, but he may also be able to form a partnership with the tricky winger which could benefit him hugely on the pitch as he has done at international level.
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