Olivier Giroud signs new contract

Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud signs new contract

Injured Frenchman signs new deal worth £80,000-a-week to keep him at Arsenal until 2018


Olivier Giroud has signed a new contract committing him to Arsenal until 2018, with Arsène Wenger confident that he now has the attacking variety in his squad to regain the Premier League title in the coming years.
Telegraph Sport reported earlier this month that Arsenal were opening talks with both Giroud and Theo Walcott, despite their current injuries, over new deals and agreement has been reached first with the France striker. Giroud will not return to the Arsenal team until the New Year after fracturing his foot but had already convinced Wenger in his first two full seasons at the club that he has both the style and temperament for English football.
Wenger has already splashed out almost £50 million this summer on adding Alexis Sánchez and Danny Welbeck to his attacking options but he regards Giroud as the most natural target man in the main central striker position and a player who offers something completely different to the rest of his squad.
Giroud scored 41 goals in his first two seasons at Arsenal and, at the age of 27, is now in what should be his peak years. Although he lacks pace and mobility, his aerial strength, physical presence and ability to link play with his back to goal have greatly impressed Wenger.
Giroud’s new deal will be worth £80,000-a-week and follows a flurry of other contract extensions for key first-team players. The new signings and contracts have all contributed to a big increase in an annual wage-bill that now stands at just over £180 million and which, for the first time in more than a decade, is understood to be higher even than Chelsea.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/11129716/Arsenal-forward-Olivier-Giroud-signs-new-contract.html