Chelsea center-forward Olivier Giroud has admitted that he will try to take on the mantle at Stamford Bridge following Eden Hazard’s departure from the club this summer.
It’s going to be a difficult time for Chelsea this year as they lost Belgian talisman Eden Hazard to La Liga giants Real Madrid in a staggering £150 million deal earlier this month. Hazard helped Chelsea to win two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, and two Europa League titles during his seven-year stint at Stamford Bridge.
In his last season, the 28-year-old winger netted 21 times for Chelsea before making the move to the Madrid capital to join the Los Blancos. Hazard’s void will certainly be felt at Chelsea and new manager Frank Lampard will be unable to sign a replacement as the West London outfit will undergo a transfer ban which will not allow them to sign any players for two transfer windows.
However, Olivier Giroud has admitted that he will try his best to emulate the goal-scoring prowess that Hazard possessed. The 32-year-old joined Chelsea from local London side Arsenal back in January 2018 and helped Chelsea to the FA Cup and Europa League in 18 months.
And Giroud said, “The numbers of goals Eden scored, I don’t know if I can take that from him but we have several strikers with different qualities. We have the quality and the quantity in the squad but obviously, you know you cannot replace a player of Eden’s quality just like that. But that’s over. Now we need to forget and not put too much pressure on players who will play in his position. I’m thinking about the young players. I will take the pressure no problem if it can release them. We know there are a lot of expectations but, even with the transfer ban, we have a lot of quality and ability upfront.”
