Olivier Giroud is set to join Chelsea for £18m.

Giroud’s agent has reportedly confirmed that Giroud is signing for Chelsea. The 31-year-old, who had 18 months left on his Arsenal contract, is said to be going for £18m.

https://twitter.com/TheAFCBeII/status/958388869002661894

On Tuesday afternoon, L’Equipe reported that Giroud and Chelsea had agreed personal terms. All that was left was for the Gunners to agree a fee with their London rivals, which they allegedly came close to doing with a €20m (£17.6m) bid plus add-ons.

According to David Ornstein, the two clubs eventually reached an agreement on a fee of £20m. However, Chelsea’s Marina Granovskaia then started trying to drive the price down further.

Arsenal apparently didn’t take kindly to this and were allegedly considering sending the striker to Dortmund instead.

From an Arsenal fan’s point of view, that would have been the ideal conclusion.

Dortmund get the striker they need, the Gunners get Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Chelsea get nothing. On the other hand, it might not have worked out so well for Giroud, who wanted to remain in London.

There were quite a few advantages for the Frenchman to move to Germany instead. For a start, he could be first choice in Dortmund. That’s almost certainly not going to be the case with Chelsea, who already have Alvaro Morata.

Plus, as the Dortmund option would have only been a loan move, he could take more time to sort his future in the summer.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if this will happen and Giroud looks to be on his way to Chelsea. Sigh.