Oliver Giroud confirmed that talks between him and Milan over a contract extension are progressing well: ‘I want to stay’. The Frenchman’s existing deal with the club expires at the end of the season, but the two parties have been in talks over a deal for several months now. Speaking with DAZN, the former Arsenal and Chelsea striker confirmed that he hopes to remain with the Rossoneri for the time being and offered his thoughts on teammate Charles De Ketelaere, and why scoring a goal could change his form this season:
:”Since I was a child, I have always been in love with Milan in Italy. I am very happy and proud of what I have done so far, but I still want more”.
“Our form? After January we were all disappointed and we needed a game to pick ourselves up. We did that with Torino, Tottenham and Monza. We weren’t perfect but for confidence they were three important games and the one with Atalanta will also be very important.”
“January? I was substituted in the 85th minute of Milan v Roma and I thought I had done well, I was smiling. At that moment we could still dream of the Scudetto, but after that game there was a turning point in the season. It hurts when I see those images: at the first opportunity of the opposing teams we were conceding goals.
“The most painful defeat? The Super Cup because it is a trophy and I had lost the World Cup final just before. In general, we struggled to press together and to be compact, we were fearful.”
“De Ketelaere? In these difficult moments you can see the support I can give to a teammate. He needs a goal to change everything, like the whole team did against Torino. Also because he had scored against Sampdoria but it was cancelled out because of an offside: I hope he scores against Tottenham in London”.
“The future? We have to stay united. The goal is to continue at AC Milan and I hope to find an agreement. We’re talking and I think things will go in the right direction. This season my head goes to the goal against Spezia. It was a crazy emotion because it was very important to win that game. We were 1-1 and I went in to score that goal. But I also think about the first derby. I want to rediscover this quality in our team.
“My acrobatics? It’s an instinct thing but also something I’ve worked on a lot in training. I like it. I’m flexible and I like doing the backhand, the volley. I studied with Van Basten, Papin and Sheva, who was my favourite player. He wrote to me and became my friend. I celebrated my 100th appearance in the national team against Ukraine when he was the coach.”
