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As reported by The Daily Mail, Olivier Giroud has completed his £18 million pound transfer to from Arsenal to Chelsea.
In doing so, he completed a complicated triangle which saw Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang become the Gunners record signing, with Michy Batshuayi leaving Stamford Bridge for Borussia Dortmund on loan as his replacement.
Earlier on deadline day, the other pieces of the jigsaw were completed. First, it was announced that Chelsea and Dortmund had reached agreement over the loan deal for Batshuayi, then Arsenal confirmed that striker Aubemeyang had become the club’s record signing, with £56 million the fee that they eventually had to pay the Bundesliga side.
Dortmund had refused to sell the Gabonese striker to Arsenal until they had a suitable replacement, and there have been reports that the Gunners actually agreed to pay the German side the £1.3 million which Chelsea were demanding as a loan fee.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger paid tribute to the departing Giroud saying “he gave great service to the club, he never let us down on the commitment front, and saved us many times”.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.