Olivier Giroud leaves Arsenal for Chelsea in £18m transfer

Chelsea have completed the signing of Olivier Giroud from Arsenal for £18million.

The 31-year-old has brought his five-and-a-half year stay at the Emirates Stadium to an end as Arsenal signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund.

It also means that Michy Batshuayi will depart Stamford Bridge for Borussia Dortmund in a loan switch, handing the German giants a replacement for the outgoing Aubameyang.

Arsene Wenger had been reluctant to lose Giroud, who has scored 105 goals for Arsenal since joining in the summer of 2012, but the club have sanctioned a deal that breaks the tangle that had been delaying their own agreement with Dortmund over Aubameyang.

Speaking after Tuesday's defeat at Swansea City, Wenger said of Giroud: "He's given great service to the club, never let us down on the performance front and saved us many times.”

Giroud's arrival at Chelsea hands Antonio Conte the physical presence to provide back-up for Alvaro Morata that he has been searching for since last January.

Conte believed that to be a role Batshuayi, now bound for the Bundesliga, was incapable of fulfilling and has turned to Giroud, who will hope to get the first-team football he needs to secure his spot in France’s World Cup squad for next summer.