Chelsea trying to shed reputation that fuels Giroud – Aubameyang rumors

Chelsea will need more than one transfer window where they were prohibited from doing anything to shake the reputation they built up over dozens of windows of doing the ridiculous.

Two years ago Chelsea loaned Michy Batshuayi to Borussia Dortmund, which allowed Dortmund to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal, who were then free to sell Olivier Giroud to Chelsea. A recent batch of transfer rumours would have the two London clubs unwinding and maybe reversing some parts of that three-way move.

Supposedly Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is looking for a way out of Arsenal, as he wants to return to the Champions League while Arsenal would be lucky to qualify for the Europa League next season. Chelsea is one possible destination, and the deal could entail returning Giroud to Arsenal. He is less interested in the Champions League than he is just getting off the distant end of Chelsea’s bench. And in keeping with his Blues career to date, this pile of rumours leaves Michy Batshuayi floating about in limbo.

The sourcing of this rumour does not do much for its reliability, nor do the details lend it much credibility.

Chelsea do not have much reason to swap one 30+-year striker for another. Aubameyang would need to have a lot of confidence in himself to think he could displace Tammy Abraham from the starting XI. Unless he is willing to trade down his role in his team to trade up for the Champions League, moving from the Emirates to Stamford Bridge would be swapping one dissatisfaction for another.

The only part of the rumour that carries a whiff of plausibility is Giroud returning to Arsenal, provided a space opened up for him so he could get back to playing.

But even that is no more than a whiff. Since joining Chelsea, Giroud has developed a taste for winning that a handful of FA Cups at Arsenal could never approach. After leaving north London, Giroud won the World Cup with France and then his first European trophy, the Europa League, with Chelsea – by beating Arsenal in the final. Arsenal are in a worse spot now than when he left, and although he knows the club and is comfortable there, he is probably not eager to jump on a sinking ship. Considering that he is linked to Serie A leaders Inter Milan and a few clubs in France’s Ligue 1, Giroud has every reason to keep Arsenal in his fond memories rather than a bleak future.

This latest rumour is the sort of thing that will continue to pop up and get passed around while Chelsea work their way out of their old reputation. Not too long ago, this sort of rumour would have sounded plausible because it was the kind of short-sighted thing the club would do. It would be even more sadly believable because it would be the club undoing a previous deal.

Although the club have yet to have a transfer window under the new management, enough signs are pointing to a smarter approach that we can hopefully dismiss these sorts of rumours out of hand.

But the Granovskaia-Cech-Lampard triumvirate will need to string together a few strong and smart transfer windows before bad ideas no longer gain purchase in the popular imagination.

Most of Marina Granovskaia’s successes in 2019 involved moving personnel out the door for maximum benefit (e.g., Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata, Maurizio Sarri, a handful of loanees), although she did secure Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic. Now they need to show their acumen in adding to the squad.

Perhaps one desperation buy can be forgiven this January as long as it pays off. In the summer, though, the club will know exactly what they need and they will have sufficient money to make it happen. That will be the first real proving ground to see what they have learned and how they will do business under the first real post-Michael Emenalo regime.

Only then can they start to rebrand the club as a savvy transfer operator, which will make it easier to laugh out of the room the transfer banter and instead focus on rumours that may actually have something behind them… or at least involve new characters.