Olivier Giroud insists he will stay at Chelsea this window despite interest from Marseille
OLIVIER GIROUD insists he is happy at Chelsea amid talk of a move to Marseille.
The French outfit have been keen to bring the 31-year-old back to his homeland.
But Giroud, who returned to his club on Monday after an extended break following his World Cup triumph, has no plans to leave the Blues having only arrived from Arsenal in January.
Asked whether he was ever interested in leaving, the striker replied: “No, I am happy here at Chelsea.
“I just arrived a few months ago and am just starting to settle well.
“I think we did a good end to the season even if we didn't finish in the top four. We are hoping to have a great season for the fans and I'm looking forward to the first game.
“I still have one year to go with Chelsea plus maybe another one. I'm going to discuss that with the club at the right time. There is no rush. I just need to prepare well and be ready as soon as possible for the team.
“That's the most important thing right now.”
Fellow World Cup winner N’Golo Kante came on as a sub in Tuesday's friendly against Lyon at Stamford Bridge, which Chelsea won on penalties after a 0-0 stalemate.
Giroud came on in the 68th minute and the FA Cup winner did reveal the Blues provided the pair with a little memento of their glory in Russia waiting for him when they returned.
Giroud explained: “I'm someone who doesn’t like to show off. I'm quite humble, NG is even more (humble) than me.
“Everyone just said congrats and they gave me like a fake World Cup and they put it above my locker. We are very proud of it, me and NG. It's for life you know?
“But the most important thing is to open a new page with our club and to be ready to give everything for the club.”
Team-mates Eden Hazard and Gary Cahill, who also only returned to training this week having made the semi-finals with Belgium and England respectively, came on as subs too.
Giroud is desperate to see Real Madrid target Hazard stay at Stamford Bridge this summer.
He added: “Eden and I texted each other after the World Cup. He congratulated me and NG.
“I didn't want to tease him about the semi-final. He had a very good World Cup and obviously he is a very special player.
“We want to keep him at Chelsea. it's a great feeling to play with this kind of player.”
One man who is set to leave is Thibaut Courtois who looks to be heading to Real Madrid, with Maurizio Sarri bringing in Spanish keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for a whopping £71million.
On outgoing pal Courtois, who has been AWOL this week as he looks to force through the switch, Giroud added: “It's true that we have not seen him.
“If he leaves it's going to be sad for us because he is a great keeper.”
Chelsea kick off their Premier League campaign on Saturday at Huddersfield.
Asked how close he is to starting, Giroud replied: “I have no idea. Usually you need a few weeks to be ready, it depends. I will see with the staff.
“We will try to do our best to be ready as soon as possible - NG, Eden, Gary - all the players that came back on Monday.
“We have got a good squad in terms of quantity and quality and I'm not worried about the first game.”