Thierry Henry has praised Olivier Giroud and revealed that he has been speaking to the Chelsea striker as he closes in on his goalscoring record for the French national team.
Arsenal legend Henry is France’s all-time highest goalscorer, having found the net 51 times during his 123 international appearances for his country.
But Giroud, who could feature as Les Bleus face Wales in a friendly on Wednesday, is now just seven goals behind and Arsenal legend Henry says it would be "amazing" if the 34-year-old overtakes him.
What has been said?
When asked by Goal about Giroud potentially surpassing his 51-goal haul, Henry said: "It would be great, a great achievement.
"Records are made to be broken. I often speak to him actually, whenever he scores a goal or two, and I always say to him 'well done', because he deserves it.
"In the past three or four years it seems like he’s struggling for starts with his team at club level, but whenever he plays - whether it’s at club level or in the national team - he often delivers.
"And yes, I know people will tell me that he didn’t score a goal at the World Cup, but at the end of the day he lifted the trophy so it doesn’t really matter."
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A dying breed
Giroud is out of contract this summer and looks likely to leave Chelsea following the Blues’ Champions League success, with AC Milan set to submit an offer.
The 34-year-old did not feature in the final against Manchester City, but was Chelsea’s top scorer in the competition, just as he was when they won the Europa League in 2019.
And Henry believes his quality, both in front of goal and linking up with his team-mates, will be a major asset to France’s hopes of adding the European Championship to their 2018 World Cup success this summer.
"Olivier is the type of striker that is kind of dying right now," Henry told Goal. "The old school, holding the ball up, passing the ball to the winger, getting into the box and breaking your neck to score with a header.
"But what I like is how he puts people in a game. He’s very good, he will give the assist sometimes when you link up with him on a one-two.
"He’s that type of player and I think it’s very good for the national team to have a different dimension to the other guys, who like to go in behind and go out to the wing and drop in.
"I think it’s great for Didier Deschamps to have a striker like Olivier and if he goes on to beat the record, amazing."