Inter Milan are close to signing Olivier Giroud from Chelsea, with only a small difference between their valuations, according to reports in Italy.

Sky in Italy report Inter Milan held talks with representatives for Olivier Giroud last week. They agreed on a two-and-a-half-year deal for the striker out of contract this summer.

Chelsea want £4.3m plus £850,000 in bonuses, whilst Inter are offering £3.4m plus the same bonuses. Discussions are ongoing, and that seems like a small gap one of the two will eventually bridge.

Giroud wants to leave for more game time, to give himself the chance to stay in the France squad ahead of the Euros in the summer. Since leaving Arsenal in 2018, he’s playing less and less for Chelsea.

The striker is up to seven appearances this season, making four appearances in August, one in September, October and November, and none since then.

Inter must have made Giroud some guarantees though, as they aren’t an obvious candidate for consistent games. They have Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez fit and firing, and Alexis Sanchez coming back from injury.

The Serie A side are also top of the league, so they aren’t going to experiment mid-season. We have to assume Giroud and his agents know what they’re doing.