West Ham are ready to make Olivier Giroud the club’s highest-paid player in a bid to lure the striker away from Arsenal this summer, reports The Daily Mirror.
Giroud only signed a new contract extension at the start of the year but his future at the club remains unclear with Arsene Wenger chasing his France international teammates Kylian Mbappe and Alexandre Lacazette.
The 30-year-old dropped down the pecking order at Arsenal last season and has already revealed he will not settle for another campaign on the sidelines as he looks to remain in Didier Deschamps’ plans for the 2018 World Cup in Russia next summer.
Arsenal are the frontrunners to sign Lyon striker Lacazette and West Ham are ready to pounce with a £20m offer, plus £130,000-a-week wages, to make Giroud the most expensive player in the club’s history.
The Hammers face competition from Lyon but it is unlikely that the French side will be able to compete with the contract West Ham are willing to offer for a striker that turns 31 in September.
Giroud made 29 appearances in the Premier League last season but only 11 of those were as a starter for Arsenal. Despite that, he still scored 12 goals and provided three assists.
In fact, of players that scored at least 10 times in the Premier League last season only Harry Kane (1 every 87.3 minutes of action) required fewer minutes per goal than Giroud (every 99.5 minutes).
For more stats on Olivier Giroud, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
