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Football London
Football London
Sport
Oliver Harbord

Chelsea must pin down out-of-contract star to new deal – and it’s not Willian

When the 2019/20 season does eventually finish, Chelsea will be losing some players on a free transfer.

As usual, contracts will be coming to an end, however there is no date yet for when that may be due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

FIFA announced proposals for current contracts, which are due to end on June 30, will actually run until the end of the season, even if that runs into July.

However, there could be some legal ramifications if they are to force players to stay at clubs longer than their current deals.

The latest on Chelsea's out of contract stars

"None of my boys have spoken to me in terms of their future," Willian’s agent Kia Joorabchian told Sky Sports.

"All my boys are concentrating on getting through this period of time and getting back to normality."

Chelsea have Willian, Pedro, Willy Caballero, Marco van Ginkel and Olivier Giroud all having contracts run out once the season comes to an end.

Decisions will be made on players they would want to keep, and there have been discussions with Willian in the past over a new deal.

But it is Giroud who Chelsea must look to try to pin down to another year following his performances before the suspension of the league.

It has been a bizarre campaign for the World Cup winner, who was often left out of the entire matchday squad on several occasions.

Michy Batshuayi has been the regular back-up over the course of the campaign, however when he got his chance to start, he failed.

With the injury to Tammy Abraham, Giroud stepped into the fray and often got the best out of the players around him.

Abraham has had an excellent campaign with 13 Premier League goals and another two in the Champions League.

He is seen as the striker for the future, but the difficult thing over the summer is about who they could bring in to compete against him.

With the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the transfer window could be massively impacted and so the Blues might have to look at those players who are currently with the club.

Giroud could be an excellent foil for Abraham in the future, with his performances before the suspension of the league proving just how useful he can be to Frank Lampard for another season.

It had looked unlikely that Giroud would even consider a new deal, having wanted out in January but not being able to make his move.

However, that feeling appears to have changed and there is a chance Giroud would be open to a fresh deal.

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