Giroud extends Chelsea contract

Europa League leading goalscorer Olivier Giroud has signed a one-year contract extension with Chelsea.

Published : May 21, 2019 16:54 IST

Giroud is set to face his old club Arsenal in next week's Europa League final in Baku.
Giroud is set to face his old club Arsenal in next week's Europa League final in Baku.
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Giroud is set to face his old club Arsenal in next week's Europa League final in Baku.

Olivier Giroud has signed a new one-year contract at Chelsea, the Premier League club has confirmed.

Giroud, who joined from Arsenal in January 2018, will now remain with the Blues for the 2019-20 season.

The striker has scored a competition-high 10 Europa League goals this season and is set to face his old club in next week's final in Baku.

And he will do so with his future settled by putting pen to paper on a 12-month extension.

"I am very happy to sign a new contract," France forward Giroud told Chelsea's official club website.

"I really wanted to stay at least one more year - I have felt a part of the team, the family, since the beginning and hopefully there will be more trophies to come."

Giroud had been linked with a return to Ligue 1, with Lyon having expressed an interest in signing him on a free transfer and the 32-year-old also indicating he was open to the move.

But with Chelsea under a two-window transfer ban - which the club is appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport - it has opted to keep Giroud at Stamford Bridge.

"We are very pleased that Olivier will be a Chelsea player for another season," said Blues director Marina Granovskaia. "Since joining us 18 months ago, he has at times had to be patient and wait for opportunities, but has still been able to make a positive contribution to the team.

"Whether it is his unselfish link-up play or his 10 Europa League goals this season, he has been a crucial member of the squad and we hope he will be able to pick up a second Chelsea winner's medal in Baku later this month to accompany last season's FA Cup win."

Giroud featured in every game as France won last year's World Cup in Russia, although he did not manage to find the net for Didier Deschamps' side.

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