Olivier Giroud completes £18million move to Chelsea from Arsenal on 18 month deal
French striker says he is 'proud' to join the Blues - as part of a transfer merry-go-round involving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joining the Gunners and Michy Batshuayi moving to Dortmund
OLIVIER GIROUD says he is "proud" to complete his £18million move to Chelsea.
The Arsenal striker has signed an 18-month deal with an option for another 12 months - and will wear the No18 shirt.
The France star told the Blues' website: "Chelsea is one of the biggest teams in the Premier League. They have won maybe the most trophies in the last six or seven years.
"It’s a massive club and I am proud to sign for Chelsea, and I’m looking forward to playing."
And Stamford Bridge director Manov Granovskaia said: "Olivier is a proven talent at the top level and we are very pleased to call him a Chelsea player.
"He has scored goals regularly throughout his career and is well accustomed to English football and the Premier League. We are sure he will be a fantastic signing."
Giroud was given permission to link up with the Blues this morning after the Gunners finally agreed a fee.
The 31-yearold travelled to west London for his health checks while the finer points of his contract were ironed out.
And once the medical came through clear he put put to paper on the move.
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Meanwhile, Michy Batshuayi is in Germany putting the finishing touches to his loan move to Borussia Dortmund, and Chelsea will confirm the signing shortly.
Giroud played as a substitute for Arsenal in their 3-1 defeat to Swansea last night as Arsene Wenger refused to leave his forward out of his plans while a deal was not done.
But afterwards the 31-year-old made a point of waving goodbye to the travelling supporters at the end of the game.
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Arsenal had been waiting for Dortmund to give the all-clear to Pierre Emerick Aubameyang to complete his £56million move to the Emirates.
They would only do that once they had a replacement in place, and that came when Batshuayi travelled to Germany this morning after agreeing a loan move.
Chelsea only sanctioned that switch when they were confident they had a striker coming in - and they got their man when Arsenal have agreed to lower their original asking price of £30m.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is busy preparing his squad for tonight's Premier League clash with Bournemouth.
The plan is to get the formalities done this afternoon in terms of pictures and interviews before the striker meets up with his new team-mates before the game tonight.
And Chelsea are hopeful of parading the Frenchman on the pitch in front of their fans at Stamford Bridge either before kick-off or at half-time.
