Chelsea have reached an agreement with Premier League rivals Arsenal over an £18 million move for Olivier Giroud, reports in England claimed on Tuesday.
Chelsea have been in the market for a tall target man in recent days having been linked with West Ham’s Andy Carroll, Stoke City’s Peter Crouch and AS Rome’s Edin Dzeko.
The BlBlue and Arsenal were reportedly holding talks on Tuesday, and agreement has finally been reached.
Daily Mail reported that talks had broken down in the afternoon with the Blues walking away from negotiations and Arsenal refusing to accept a deal worth an initial £15m with £5m worth of add-ons.
However, the Blues came back with a revised bid, with a fee of around £17.6m reportedly agreed between the two clubs.
Arsenal were said to have originally asked £30m for the 31-year-old Frenchman but a pressing need to push through the deal in order to secure the services of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund forced their hand.
Dortmund were unwilling to confirm the Aubameyang move without agreeing a deal for Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi, a transfer Chelsea refused to sign off on until they landed a replacement.
Chelsea Agree £18m Giroud Deal With Arsenal, Batshuayi Set For Dortmund
