Olivier Giroud reveals the team he almost joined instead of Chelsea when he left Arsenal
Olivier Giroud is one of a long list of players who has transferred between Arsenal and Chelsea over the years.
The likes of Ashley Cole, William Gallas, Petr Cech, David Luiz, Willian and Jorginho have all transferred between the two London rivals over the years, and Giroud is another who has made that switch.
However, things almost worked out rather differently for Giroud.
Speaking to Canal+, the Frenchman has now revealed that he almost made a different move when he left Arsenal.
Olivier Giroud almost joined Borussia Dortmund
Giroud told the story of how he almost signed for Borussia Dortmund instead of Chelsea.
The striker says that Dortmund were in for him, but he was warned off the deal by his pregnant wife who joked she would kill him if he made her move country at that moment in time.
Instead, Giroud made the wise move of staying in London and moving across to Chelsea.
@canalplussportGiroud à Dortmund, ça aurait fonctionné ? 👀 « Le dîner des 40 ans » de l’ancien attaquant de l’équipe de France, c’est CE SOIR à 20H50 sur CANAL+ FOOT 💫 #football #footballtiktok #sportstiktok #oliviergiroud
♬ son original – CANAL+ SPORT
“Basically, I was short of playing time at Arsenal. I need to play because of the 2018 World Cup. What do I do?
“I’m going to Chelsea.”
“So at the time, it was a step up, because the two best clubs at the time in the Premier League and on the European stage were City and Chelsea, because of their Champions League success.”
“I remember you had another destination at the time too.”
“Yeah, I had Dortmund. Jen, she was pregnant at the time. She gave birth on 25 January 2018.”
“She said to me: ‘If you make me change countries, go to Germany, to Dortmund. I’ll kill you on top of that.’”
“And in the end, it all worked out nicely, because there was this sort of musical-chairs situation involving Batshuayi, Aubameyang and me.
“Michy Batshuayi, who was at Chelsea, went to Dortmund. Aubameyang, who was at Dortmund, came to Arsenal. And I went to Chelsea.
“It worked out nicely. On 31 January, I signed my contract.”
Giroud made the right call here, he would work his way into the France team for the World Cup – going on to win the tournament, and by the end of his time at Chelsea, he was a Champions League winner too.