'Chelsea can't afford to let Giroud go' - Hasselbaink urges Lampard to block in-form striker's exit

Chelsea "can't afford" to let Olivier Giroud go in the winter transfer window, according to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who has urged Frank Lampard to block the in-form striker's exit.

Giroud has enhanced his reputation as one of the most consistent centre-forwards in the Premier League since joining Chelsea from Arsenal for £18 million ($24m) in January 2018.

The Frenchman has scored 35 goals in 99 appearances in all competitions for the Blues despite largely serving in a back-up capacity, while also getting his hands on the FA Cup and Europa League.

Frank Lampard initially opted to use summer signing Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham ahead of the 34-year-old at the start of the 2020-21 campaign, but the veteran frontman has forced his way back into contention with a string of eye-catching displays.

Giroud scored all four goals in the 4-0 Champions League win at Sevilla last week after being handed a rare start, and retained his place in the team for the home fixture against Leeds United on Saturday.

The World Cup winner, who is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, opened the scoring during Chelsea's 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, leaving Lampard with a welcome selection headache ahead of the congested festive period.

Giroud has admitted he may have to seek a move away from west London in the new year to boost his chances of playing for France at the next European Championships, but Hasselbaink says the Blues must do everything possible to ensure that they retain his services.

"I don’t think they can afford to let Giroud go,’" the former Chelsea striker told Premier League Productions. "Even if he’s not number one. Coming off the bench and making something different. I know that he is going to want to leave but I think Frank has to be very selfish there and say no.

"Maybe he can call Deschamps and have that conversation with Deschamps saying, 'Okay, what does he need to do to be in your team? How much does he need to play?' and have that conversation with Giroud, 'Okay, you’re going to play this amount of matches for sure so you can go to the European Championship'.

"I don’t know but maybe Frank has to be a little bit creative to just keep him because I think he’s important for the team. His team-mates love him. They love him. So to keep that together is also important.

"In the beginning he hardly played but then Chelsea became a little bit in trouble with the forward players. He started playing and he saved them, I think, to get that fourth place because he was crucial.

"He was scoring important goals, that’s why he got a little extension and then this year it’s a little bit the same. Abraham started, scoring goals and he has come from the bench, but at the moment, at the right time, he’s making the difference and I don’t think that Chelsea can afford to let him go."

Hasselbaink added on Giroud's ability to bring the best out of his team-mates: "He’s not been scoring regularly but he’s been doing other things well, making other people play better and letting other people score more goals.

"When you have a successful team we always look at the striker scoring 30 goals, but he is not that kind of person. Yes, he scored in midweek four goals but it hasn’t happened that often.

"If you look how many hat-tricks he has, I don’t think he has a lot of hat-tricks but he does make other people around him play better.

"I don’t think he is that kind of player [who should be judged on how many goals he scores]. We all have our strengths and I think that is his strength, making other people play better.

"Of late he’s scoring also more and important goals. Today, 1-0 - he scores a lot of 1-0s, 1-1s, 2-1s and not a lot of strikers do that. The strikers that score 1-0 and important goals, those are the strikers that you want."