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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Jack Rosser

Olivier Giroud '100 per cent' focused on Chelsea after transfer near miss as he targets Euro 2020 berth

Olivier Giroud says he must move on from the disappointment of not sealing a Chelsea exit in January and is now firmly focused on getting into France's Euro 2020 squad.

The World Cup winner, who had been told by manager Frank Lampard that he could leave the Blues last month once the right offer was in place, eventually ended up staying at Stamford Bridge when no replacement arrived.

Chelsea had looked to sign Napoli frontman Dries Mertens and Lyon's Moussa Dembele but could not agree a deal for either player.

Giroud made a first appearance since November against Manchester United on Monday night and looked to have scored his first Premier League goal of the season after heading home from Mason Mount's cross, only for a VAR review to rule his foot fractionally offside.

The 33-year-old was close to joining Antonio Conte at Inter Milan and was also of interest to Tottenham, but now says he is committed to performing for Chelsea.

"I am a Chelsea player," Giroud told Talksport.

"Now I need to move on, move forward. I want to give everything for the team and obviously my personal target is to play as much as I can to play the Euros for my country. It is massive for me.

"Things like that [January], now I am 100 per cent focused on Chelsea's target and I want to keep fighting, come back on the scoresheet and the teamsheets and every single game is a big opportunity for me to show my desire to come back in the game."

Giroud had dropped to third in Chelsea's striker pecking order behind Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi earlier in the season.

However, with Abraham injured and Batshuayi producing a rather concerning performance on Monday, the former Arsenal man could be set for a short run in the side, starting against Tottenham on Saturday.

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