Olivier Giroud to join Chelsea for £18m, paving away for Arsenal to complete Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang transfer

The Giroud deal means Chelsea will give their blessing for Batshuayi to join Dortmund on loan until the end of the season, even though he had been in line to start against Bournemouth on Wednesday night.

Arsenal had been reluctant to allow Giroud to join a Premier League rival, having already sold Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United, and initially valued the 31-year-old at around £30m.

But the Gunners came to realise that the best way to get their Aubameyang deal over the line was to allow Giroud to move to Stamford Bridge and eventually agreed to drop their original asking price.

With Alvaro Morata and Willian both out, head coach Antonio Conte had planned to start with Batshuayi against Bournemouth if there was no movement in the transfer market.

But even though he has been forced into a late rethink for the Bournemouth clash, Conte will be delighted that Giroud is set to join to provide competition and support for Morata.

Conte had wanted a target man and, in signing an outfield player over the age of 30 for a significant fee, Chelsea will break their recent transfer policy to satisfy the Italian.

After his side's 3-1 defeat at Swansea, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said that Giroud’s future would be decided on Wednesday, but he suggested the Frenchman’s Arsenal career was over. He said that he had brought the striker on as a late substitute when Arsenal were chasing the game because he trusted Giroud not to let the club down.

“It’s a tribute to Olivier, yes, because he is a guy who gave great service to the club and never let us down on the commitment front and saved us many times. I have absolutely no doubt when I ask him if he is ready to commit and he says yes I have no problem with that. That is why I put him in because it was needed. Unfortunately he couldn’t help us.”

Asked whether he would be sad to see Giroud go, Wenger said: “Yes. Personally I took him for Montpellier and made him a strong international player for France. We have come together through good and bad but always his behaviour was top, top class. At the end the respect is more linked to that than to all the rest.”

Wenger would not be drawn on whether Giroud had been forced out to make the Aubameyang deal happen. “He’s an Arsenal man, after that he needs to play as well because he has not played many games in the Premier League since the start of the season. He’s a regular player in the French national team. He has a World Cup where France will go, places of course are difficult to get. It was a difficult situation for him but he always had his heart 100 per cent in the team and was committed.”

Wenger said that the Aubameyang deal was not yet complete. “The confidence doesn’t help too much in that because the deals nowadays are so complicated. As long as you are not finished, to be confident doesn’t help too much.”

Chelsea turned to Giroud after talks over a move for Edin Dzeko broke down during the weekend and Tottenham set a £25m asking price for Fernando Llorente.

Conte confirmed that neither Dzeko nor Llorente would be joining Chelsea, prior to news emerging of the Blues agreeing a fee for Giroud.

On Dzeko, Conte said: “I don't like speaking about players from other teams, but I think he's Roma's player. I think he will continue to be Roma's player.”

And asked whether he would revisit his interest in Llorente, who Chelsea tried to sign last summer, Conte added: “In the summer, it was the summer. Now it is January and it is winter. It's a different situation. I repeat, we are talking about players of other teams.”

Despite pulling out of a move for Dzeko, Chelsea still completed the signing of Emerson Palmieri from Roma and the left-back has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.

“I came here because it’s a great team with a great history,” said Emerson. “Today I am realising one of my dreams to pull on the shirt of such a great club.

“English football is something I have been watching since I was 15 years old. It is a really beautiful game over here, but it is going to be even more beautiful to play it.”

The signings of Giroud, who is eligible to play in the Champions League, Palmieri and Ross Barkley will mean Chelsea have spent about £57m on three players during the January transfer window, which the club believes represents good value in the current market.

Chelsea were operating without a technical director during this window, following Michael Emenalo’s departure to Monaco, which meant director Marina Granovskaia took full responsibility for transfer negotiations.

Granovskaia managed to argue Arsenal down on Giroud, having held her nerve following the collapse of potential deals for Dzeko and Andy Carroll, who had been set to join Chelsea before being ruled out by injury.

Having seen his plans for the Bournemouth match altered by late moves in the transfer window, Conte believes there should not be games played on deadline day.

“It's not right to have a match when there is the deadline passing on the market,” said Conte. “This is not right. Not right. You can have this type of situation. To have players who stay half and half. In the future, whoever decides the fixtures should reflect a bit before deciding to prepare this type of situation. Now I have to face this situation.

“There are many coaches who don't like to have a game when there is the deadline of the transfer market.”