Thierry Henry did not hide his admiration for Olivier Giroud’s achievements at Chelsea and with France over the past few years.
Speaking to Goal, the Arsenal icon was discussing the possibility of Giroud overtaking his goals record for the French national side.
Henry stands at 51, with the Chelsea centre-forward closing in on 44.
Giroud has a great chance to close the gap at the European Championships, just weeks after being crowned a Champions League winner.
Despite his success domestically and internationally, the 34-year-old remains undervalued.
In club football, that is. He hasn’t started a game for Chelsea since an FA Cup win over Sheffield United in March.
It looks increasingly likely Giroud will leave the Blues this summer, as his contract enters into its final month.
Oli overlooked
Even if he isn’t at Stamford Bridge next season, Henry felt that his compatriot still had a huge part to play in France’s Euro adventure.
“In the past three or four years it seems like he’s struggling for starts with his team at club level, but whenever he plays – whether it’s at club level or in the national team – he often delivers,” said two-time Premier League winner.
“Olivier is the type of striker that is kind of dying right now.
“The old school, holding the ball up, passing the ball to the winger, getting into the box and breaking your neck to score with a header.
“But what I like is how he puts people in a game. He’s very good, he will give the assist sometimes when you link up with him on a one-two.”
French fancy
Because of his contributions towards the French team, Henry was humble in allowing Giroud to break his goalscoring tally.
“I think it’s great for Didier Deschamps to have a striker like Olivier and if he goes on to beat the record, amazing.”
Deschamps looks far more favourably upon Giroud than Thomas Tuchel does.
Le Blues boss played the experienced attacker in all seven games of France’s 2018 World Cup campaign.
He will probably fulfill a similarly significant role at the next international tournament and perhaps show what Chelsea might be missing out on.
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