Premier League: Olivier Giroud Joins Chelsea From Arsenal

Chelsea Football Club on Wednesday completed the signing of striker Olivier Giroud from Arsenal. The 31-year-old striker will wear the number 18 shirt and has signed an 18-month-contract. After the announcement, an elated Giroud said, "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."

"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", Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added. 

Giroud spent the 2007/08 campaign on loan at Istres in the French third tier before moving to Ligue 2 club Tours on a permanent basis. He enjoyed a fruitful two-year spell there, scoring all four of their goals in a 4-2 win over Arles-Avignon in 2009.

He joined Montpellier in July 2010 and after scoring in their opening two league matches, Giroud never looked back, netting hat-tricks in matches against Dijon and Sochaux as Montpellier won the French title for the first time in their history. He ended the campaign with 21 league goals and went on to sign for Arsenal that summer.

His best goalscoring return in a season at the Emirates came in 2015/16 when he found the net 24 times, including hat-tricks against Olympiakos, in the Champions League, and Villa.

He joins compatriots N'Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko in the Chelsea squad, and he is eligible to play in all three competitions for the Blues.