Journalist dismisses talk Chelsea star could skip training to force deadline day exit

Highly respected journalist David Ornstein has confirmed that Olivier Giroud did train with Chelsea on Friday amid speculation over his future.

It’s been a frustrating season for the 33-year-old thus far, as he has been limited to just seven appearances across all competitions.

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With his contract set to expire this summer coupled with the fact that he will no doubt want to claim a spot in the France squad for EURO 2020, Giroud will be itching for more playing time between now and the end of the season.

In turn, that led the likes of The Sun to report that the French international could skip training on Friday to force through a late exit with Lazio, Inter and Tottenham all paired with an interest in the stalwart as per the report.

However, with Chelsea struggling to bring in an attacking reinforcement of their own, it seems as though Frank Lampard won’t green light an exit, and he has seemingly avoided a separate headache with regards to Giroud’s professionalism as Ornstein notes in his tweet below that the striker attended training on Friday.

With that in mind, that all seems to point towards Giroud remaining a Chelsea player for the remainder of this season at least.

The Telegraph reported this week that first-choice frontman Tammy Abraham sustained an ankle injury against Arsenal but could play on through the pain given how important he has been for Lampard so far this season.

That said, with Chelsea still trying to hold on to fourth spot in the Premier League coupled with their FA Cup and Champions League hopes, there is surely still a chance for Giroud to play a key role for the Blues as any talk of a January exit seems to be fading with the transfer deadline fast approaching.