Former France international Olivier Giroud had revealed that he had the chance to join Borussia Dortmund in 2018, but his wife vetoed the idea.
Giroud, who the 2018 FIFA World Cup with Les Bleus, was on his way out of Arsenal at the time after losing his place in the XI and dropping behind in the pecking order.
Fearing he could lose his place in the national team for the Russian showpiece that summer, the striker was looking for greener pastures during the winter transfer window.
Among the potential suitors were Dortmund, who reportedly were keen on bringing him to Signal Iduna Park back then, but Giroud's wife was against the transfer.
Speaking on French TV channel Canel+ on the occasion of his 40th birthday, he said laughingly:
"Jen was pregnant; she gave birth on 25th January 2018. And she said to me, ‘If you make me move to another country, to Germany, and to Dortmund of all places, I’ll kill you’"
Instead, he joined Arsenal's derby rivals Chelsea on a 17 million euro transfer and his family ended up staying in London. His departure prompted the Gunners to raid Dortmund for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, while the BVB snapped up Mitchy Batshuayi from Chelsea as the Gabonese forward's replacement.
Giroud further hailed the Blues as two of the best clubs in the world at the time and was content see that it all turned out good for him.
"At the time, it was a natural progression. The two best clubs at the time, both in the Premier League and in Europe, were Chelsea and Manchester City. In the end, it all worked out well."
Statistically though, Giroud had a torrid time at Chelsea. In 75 league games, he mustered a meager 17 goals as his Premier League goalscoring average dropped from 0.40 with the Gunners to just 0.22 with the Pensioners. But interestingly enough, he clinched both the Champions League and the Europa League during his time there, even scoring in the 2019 finals against his former side Arsenal.
As for Dortmund, their gamble on Batshuayi paid off handsomely. The former Belgian international struck nine goals in 14 games with them during his five-month spell, including seven in the Bundesliga from 10 games.
Some of his vital contributions included a late double against Atalanta in the Europa League which helped Dortmund come back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 in the Round of 32, as well as a late winner against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
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