Luca Antonini, an intermediary in the negotiations between Inter and Chelsea over Olivier Giroud in the recent January transfer market has explained why no move ever happened in the end.
Reports at the time suggested that Inter had already agreed terms with both Chelsea and the player himself over a move and they also suggested it was Inter who had pulled out of the move but Antonini says it was in fact Chelsea who were behind the potential deal collapsing.
“The deal did not get completed because of Chelsea. They had to find a replacement before letting Giroud go but couldn’t find a suitable player and this is why Inter couldn’t sign him,” he remarked in an interview with Italian news outlet CalcioMercato.com.
Antonini was then asked if he thinks Giroud could end up at Inter in the Summer.
“The future cannot be known. Due to the Coronavirus situation we are talking about everything except the market. At this moment none of us want to start negotiations. There are people who are sick, who are dying every day, and honestly it is not very nice to think about this kind of thing at this time.”
He proceeded to heap praise on Giroud’s professionalism through all of this.
“Giroud is an exemplary, incredible professional and he has not said anything bad about the club or his manager. When he has been called upon he has delivered three goals.
“He is a player with lots of professionalism and Conte knows that bringing in a player of his experience can be an added value in an already very important team.”
This season Giroud has found playing time particularly hard to come by at the Premier League club. The 33-year-old has made just 13 appearances across all competitions to date and has only been on the pitch for a total of 684 minutes in which he has scored three goals.
