Olivier Giroud says he idolised one former Chelsea striker who only scored 22 times for the Blues

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Olivier Giroud paid homage to former Chelsea centre-forward Andriy Shevchenko on social media last night.

Giroud revealed his admiration for the great Ukrainian via an Instagram post yesterday, which included a video depicting this love from one attacker to another.

Within the film, the France international labelled Shevchenko as his favourite player growing up and one he ‘always looked up’, as referenced in the caption.

Interestingly, the two ex-members of the Stamford Bridge clan have trodden rather similar paths.

Remebering Shevchenko

Whilst Shevchenko only played for three teams across his glittering career compared to Giroud’s seven, the pair both ended up in the same patch at some stage of their sporting life.

Shevchenko arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2006 with a reputation that matched his then club-record signing on fee.

At AC Milan, he scored 175 times across 322 appearances, won five titles (including the Champions League) and was crowned the Ballon d’Or winner in 2004.

Sadly, the recently removed Genoa manager lost some of his sparkle after moving to South West London.

He only managed 22 goals in 77 games before moving back to Dynamo Kyiv, the place where his footballing journey started and eventually ended.

However, Shevchenko still managed to claim FA Cup and League Cup glory under Jose Mourinho, earning him something of a cult hero status.

Gone but never forgotten

Giroud left Chelsea with a similar stance of recognition amongst the home supporters.

Many felt the 35-year-old was generally underused and underappreciated whilst donning the blue jersey.

Despite often providing cover to the main forward, he still scored some crucial goals in crucial matches.

The bicycle kick winner against Atletico Madrid in last season’s European run; the 11 he bagged on route to Europa League glory in 2018/19; two goals in separate FA Cup semi-finals.

Having been shunted to the wings by Thomas Tuchel, Giroud set sail for Milan to follow his idol’s legacy.

He can now proudly say he wore the same jersey as Shevchenko; it’s what dreams are made of.

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