Chelsea ‘might miss Olivier Giroud now they have signed Gonzalo Higuain’, says Ally McCoist on talkSPORT

Chelsea may actually miss Olivier Giroud now they have secured the arrival of Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, Ally McCoist believes.

He insists the Frenchman brings a lot to the Blues team despite his lack of regular goals and says they could miss his physical presence up front.

Ally was on commentary duty for talkSPORT at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night as Chelsea beat Tottenham on penalties to reach the EFL Cup final.

Giroud made a rare start against Spurs and while he didn’t find the net, and missed a sitter with his head, McCoist insists there is so much more to his game than scoring and that he is one of the keys to getting the best out of star man Eden Hazard.

Now they have signed Higuain, though, it appears Giroud’s game time for the rest of the season may be limited.

And the Scotland legend told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on Friday: “They’ve brought in an out-and-out goalscorer in Higauin, I get that, but I actually think Chelsea might miss the physicality of Giroud.

“They might miss a real focal point up front who can take the ball in. He’s not an out-and-out goalscorer, I get that, but you don’t get the same physical presence with Higuain as you get with Giroud.

“He really allowed Hazard to go and express himself again against Spurs and he was outstanding.

“Let’s not forget, Giroud won a World Cup without scoring, that is his specific value in the team. You look at that French team, nine teams out of ten are not going to play a centre forward who is not scoring goals, but he was so important for them.”