Chelsea can still find a place for Olivier Giroud with Timo Werner

Timo Werner is expected to sign with Chelsea, which will raise questions about the recently extended Olivier Giroud. Combining both will take some tweaks.

Olivier Giroud had wanted to leave in January to ensure a chance for the Euros. That deal fell apart, Frank Lampard started to use Giroud more often with Tammy Abraham injured, and then the Euros were delayed. Altogether, Giroud opted to sign an extension to his contract at Chelsea.

That was all before this Timo Werner news really heated up. While that deal in not yet complete and nothing can be assumed as certain yet, it is close enough to consider what it might mean for a player like Giroud who has spent most of this season as a deputy to another striker.

But Werner’s signing should not spell the end of playing time for Giroud. The same can be said about Tammy Abraham. In an ideal world, Lampard finds a way to keep all three involved and the method is not as complicated as it may seem.

Chelsea has followed a certain mold of player in transfer rumors this year. They have been targeting a player that can play striker, but is also capable of playing wider if required. Werner, if he signs, would fit that mold perfectly. At Leipzig, he plays up top in a front two most of the time, but he has also played as a wider inside forward when they have gone to a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. Furthermore, the role is virtually the same whether he is technically a striker in the formation or not.

Simply put, that means he can supplement rather than replace Abraham which appears to have been a major key point in the plan all along. But that does leave two of the club’s three strikers starting. If either gets injured, there is not much depth. And that is where Giroud enters the story.

Abraham and Giroud are similar in many ways but different in many others. Both have a good understanding of where their teammates are and how they will react to certain movements. Whereas Abraham is more of a mobile focal point, Giroud is a static one. Abraham will come deep for the ball whereas Giroud will wait higher up to hold it up.

But where both remain the same is that they will benefit from a player like Werner. Be it in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3, both players can ebb and flow with the German to produce a powerful and potent attack from multiple sides. Some games may require Abraham’s more fluid presence. Others will need Giroud’s consistency. Perhaps most importantly, having all three players offers Chelsea options against different opponents.

So despite Giroud extending and seeing a big name player probably coming in shortly afterwards, there is very much room for both. Lampard has had a goal of creating a flexible team that can adapt not only off the pitch but on it to various situations. Werner, Abraham, and Giroud in virtually any combinations allows for that.