Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has hailed Olivier Giroud as ‘the ultimate professional’ in the wake of his four-goal Champions League salvo at Sevilla.

Giroud has been linked with a move away from Chelsea in January, having slipped behind Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner in Chelsea’s pecking order.

“He is the ultimate professional, and I think he’s done that through his career,” said Lampard.

“I think that’s why with Oli you see his numbers for France and in the Champions League.

“He wasn’t always a regular before I got here, but as soon as I came in I could feel the positivity off him as a player, how he wants to train, how he wants to affect people whether he starts or not.

“And he’s started a lot for us now and been very impactful in terms of how he was in restart and performances like tonight.

“So he’s a great sign for younger players and for other players when they are not always playing in the squad of 20-plus we have that happens of course.

“So they keep training well, and when they come in they perform like they did tonight.

“That was a really, really complete performance in the circumstances tonight.”