Olivier Giroud confirms he is close to signing a new contract with Arsenal

Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud has confirmed that he is close to signing a new contract at the club, with his current deal expiring after the end of this season. The 30-year-old made his first start for the Gunners against West Bromwich Albion and scored the winner in the 87th minute with a towering header to hand the Gunners three crucial points after two back to back losses.

Alexis Sanchez came close to breaking the deadlock in the second half when he hit the post from inside the penalty box while Giroud also forced a smart save from Ben Foster. The Frenchman has played second fiddle to Alexis this season and only made his way into the first team following an injury to Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

This is the second time that Giroud has scored late in a game to dig Arsenal out of a situation, with the first coming against Manchester United at Old Trafford where he scored a late header to equalise the game. The striker revealed that he had a long talk with Arsene Wenger over his lack of game time and insists that he is desperate to get more minutes on the pitch.

"People have been saying I have signed a new contract," Giroud said, as quoted by the Guardian. "It is not true but may be soon."

"It is all about keeping the focus high. Always keep working hard at training. I was speaking with the boss, we had a couple of discussions together and he explained to me why I hadn't played too much until here. But football is an everlasting new beginning, as I used to say, and you always have to keep focused and wait for your time.

"Today I played, I tried to give everything for the team and hopefully things will change for me. But as long as the team is getting better I am happy and I am part of the club since five years and I want to carry on. But we have to see, I need more time of games but we will see in the future. The best thing is to keep within distance of Chelsea," he added.