(Photos) Chelsea ace wears face mask with branding of new club as exit nears completion

As the report notes, Giroud is on the verge of making the move to the Rossoneri in a deal which will bank Chelsea £2m.

Chelsea triggered their option to extend Giroud’s deal, but it appears to have merely been a strategy from Marina Granovskaia to get an extra couple of million in the bank.

It’s worked a treat, too, with Milan biting their hand off at the prospect of landing a player of Giroud’s quality on the cheap.

It’s now only a matter of time before Giroud is officially announced as an AC Milan player, signed and sealed, with the Frenchman having been pictured in the city with a club-branded face mask.

Chelsea will presumably bring in a new striker this summer, with Giroud now having departed and there being question marks over the future of Tammy Abraham.

One thing’s for certain, they’re very unlikely to head into the next campaign with a third-choice striker of Giroud’s quality. Having him willing to play that role was an absolute blessing for the Blues…