Chelsea could listen to bids for World Cup winners Olivier Giroud and Pedro in January.
Neither
Giroud nor Pedro were part of Frank Lampard’s squad for the dramatic Champions
League Group H draw against Ajax on Tuesday night.
Giroud
and Pedro only have just over six months remaining on their contracts and can
speak to foreign clubs in January over free transfer summer moves.
But, particularly in the case of Giroud, Chelsea may be open to bids in the
next transfer window when they can still demand a fee and save six months of
their wages.
Giroud, who has started just
one competitive game under Lampard, wants to leave in January in a bid to keep
his place in the France side for next summer’s European Championships.
His last action was 20 minutes
as a substitute against Burnley last month and the 33 year-old knows he could
lose his place in the France side if he remains at Stamford Bridge for the rest
of his contract.
There is plenty of interest
from France in Giroud, while Crystal Palace and West Ham United are two Premier
League clubs who have been linked with him.
Pedro may be more willing to
see out the season at Chelsea, but he has also become a peripheral figure in
Lampard’s youth revolution. Billy Gilmour was preferred to the Spaniard on the
bench this week and he did not even travel to Ajax in the Champions League last
month.
