Barcelona make shock move for Chelsea superstar, David de Gea makes decision on Manchester United future and more: Transfer roundup, 15 January 2019

Barcelona plotting a swoop for Olivier Giroud

In order to beef up their attack and allay the goalscoring burden on the ageing Luis Suarez, Barcelona are now eyeing Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud as a potential target, as per Spanish publication Sport.

Giroud will, in fact, be out of contract at the end of the season at Chelsea and will be available for free if the Blues don't extend his contract. Barcelona have made contact with the Frenchman's entourage over a potential deal and the interest is pretty concrete.

Barca will have to cough up €15 million to sign Giroud in January. Maurizio Sarri is not expected to stand in the way of a potential deal as he has chosen to go with Hazard as the striker in recent matches as Giroud and Morata have proven to be frugal in terms of providing goals at Stamford Bridge.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad