Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has signed a long term contract with Arsenal which will keep him at the club until the 2017-18 season. The Frenchman will earn wages worth £80,000-a-week and his overall deal accounts to more than £15m thanks to his extension over the course of the three and three-quarter years.
The striker who just celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday will now be at North London until he is 31. The hefty wages and putting pen to a new contract surely indicates that he is very much in Arsene Wenger’s scheme of things over the coming seasons despite the Gunners having signed Danny Welbeck from arch rivals Manchester United on the deadline day of the recent summer transfer window.
Theo Walcott is also nursing an injury on the sidelines while Lukas Podolski has been underused up front. Yaya Sanogo, who had a great pre season also hasn’t hit the ground running when called upon to lead the line up front.
Arsenal haven’t been able to fully replace Robin Van Persie and their troubles up front were exposed last season, Giroud being the only senior striker. However it will be interesting to see whether Wenger decided to shed his ‘one man up font’ strategy once Giroud returns from his long term injury layoff. The French striker is expected to return from injury in December or January
Giroud has so far scored 28 goals in 72 Premier League appearances since joining from French Ligue 1 side Montpellier in 2012 but has struggled to settle in with the pace of the premier League.