Olivier Giroud’s agent slams Chelsea boss Frank Lampard

Chelsea 1-0 Norwich Giroud kept Chelsea in Champions League race

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud scored a brace against Sweden during the international break and his agent Michael Manuello has now hit out at manager Frank Lampard for treating the French international unfairly.

According to the player’s agent, the 34-year-old should not be behind the likes of Tammy Abraham in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge and he should have played more often this season.

His agent said: “With Olivier Giroud and without the signings, Chelsea were on 18 points from nine matches. These 18 points were gathered when Olivier started seven times. Chelsea scored 18 goals.  

“Since the beginning of the season, Chelsea have played eight matches, scored 22 goals and taken 15 points. So if they win their next match, they will equal what Olivier did last year.

“It is not the same to play with (Hakim)  Ziyech, (Kai) Havertz, (Timo) Werner than playing without them. So we need to look at this relatively. 

“But at the same time, you’d be blind not to see that Frank Lampard has decided to put Tammy Abraham ahead of him. It is not frankly fair when you look at what Olivier did at the end of the season. But he has the right, it is his choice.”

Giroud has started just one game for Chelsea this season in the League Cup and he is thought to be frustrated with his role in the side.

The Frenchman helped Chelsea secure Champions League qualification towards the end of last season by scoring seven goals in 12 games but Lampard is clearly not keen on giving him a regular starting berth.

Giroud was linked with a move away from Chelsea in the summer but he ended up staying.

It will be interesting to see how Frank Lampard reacts to these comments from the player’s agent now. 

Chelsea invested big money on Timo Werner during the summer and Abraham is also ahead of the Frenchman in the pecking order.

There is no doubt that Giroud is a quality player and he deserves to play more often. He could easily be a star player for another Premier League club.

 It remains to be seen whether the striker can convince the Chelsea manager of his quality and force his way into the first team lineup in the coming months.