Lampard: Giroud is right to be considering his Chelsea future

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard believes Olivier Giroud was “bang on” to express concerns regarding his first-team opportunities at Stamford Bridge.
The emergence of Tammy Abraham has seen the 33-year-old start just one Premier League game under Lampard so far and, despite finishing as top scorer in last season’s Europa League, Giroud has just 17 minutes of European football under his belt in 2019/20.
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- Giroud left Arsenal to join Chelsea in January 2018.
- But since then, he’s started just 14 Premier League games.
- He recently said he “cannot accept” a fringe role at Chelsea.
- And Lampard believes he is right to be disgruntled over his playing time.
- Giroud was last season’s Europa League top scorer with 11 goals.
The former Arsenal man was vocal in his concerns regarding his playing time over the international break, saying he “cannot accept” a fringe role at Stamford Bridge and that he will consider seeking a move if things don’t improve.
And Lampard believes Giroud is right to demand more playing time and is willing to address the forward’s future in January – although he did insist he is keen for Giroud to remain a Chelsea player.
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“I had a good chat with Oli before he went away and I always respect all the players, but particularly the players of that age of low thirties,” Lampard said.
“I love his professionalism. He was bang on when he spoke to me and with his quotes when he was away with France. He shouldn’t be happy and accept not playing. That’s what good players do. I think, as I said to Oli, he will get his games and be a big influence for us.
“At the moment, because of how Tammy is playing, there hasn’t been the minutes, so I would happily sit down with Oli in January. But that is a long way away. I want him here.”
Abraham has scored nine goals in 11 games so far this season and his form is keeping Giroud rooted to the bench.
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But, like Lampard, the England international says he would like Giroud to remain in west London, admitting he is learning from the Frenchman in training.
“I just take those little things that I see in training,” he said. “If the ball is coming into the box off the ground, his volleying and everything is on point, so you have to take those little things and add them to your game.
“I’m a visual learner. I like to watch and take people’s ideas.”