Olivier Giroud says Chelsea blocked him from joining Spurs in the January transfer window, among other possible transfers.

In January, the media linked Olivier Giroud to a number of clubs, including Inter Milan and Spurs. The suggestion was that he was desperate for a move anywhere he could play more regularly.

Before his recent run in the team, Giroud was really struggling for games at Chelsea. At the end of the January transfer window, he was up to seven appearances for the season. The last of those was in late November.

That led to the striker doing the unthinkable, for a Chelsea and ex-Arsenal player: Trying to join Tottenham Hotspur.

“The most interesting (option) for me was Inter Milan,” Giroud admitted. “The problem was that it dragged on. Lazio and Tottenham were there too, but I was blocked.”

In the end, that meant the 33-year-old had to stay with Chelsea. Funnily enough, he started getting games almost immediately. A positive 22 minutes against Manchester United led to starts against Spurs, Bournemouth, Everton, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

That’s a run of five consecutive games, with a couple of goals. Plus, Chelsea won three of those matches, which is an improvement in form for them.

What a heartwarming story. An ex-Arsenal player desperately trying to join Spurs, but ending up happily starting matches for Chelsea instead. Truly inspirational.