Arsene Wenger has confirmed he expects Olivier Giroud to start next season as Arsenal's first-choice striker.

The 29-year-old ended this season in fine form, scoring a hat-trick on the final day as the Gunners pipped Tottenham to second place courtesy of a 4-0 win against Aston Villa.

Giroud also found the net against Manchester City in his penultimate appearance of the campaign, which ended the Frenchman's dry spell of 15 Premier League games without a goal.

Danny Welbeck's long-term injury, which could sideline the England international for upwards of nine months, is set to force Wenger into the transfer market but the Gunners boss still expects Giroud to be central to his future plans.

Arsenal season ratings 2015/16 27 show all Arsenal season ratings 2015/16 1/27 Player ratings Which Gunners played their part this season? And who will have left Arsene Wenger fuming? 2/27 Petr Cech: 7 Undoubtedly there were moments where Cech’s displays saved Arsenal crucial points, as in the draw with Liverpool in early August. But equally recent weeks have seen the worrying return of his difficulties getting down quickly at his near post, with both Yannick Bolasie and Kevin De Bruyne stealing crucial points from Arsenal with tame efforts. (BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images) 3/27 Hector Bellerin: 8 Proving himself to be the best young right-back in world football Bellerin has continued his remarkable rise to prominence, coupling the attacking endeavour he showed last season with growing defensive acumen. This season has seen him prove his skills against Douglas Costa, Neymar and the Premier League’s best. No wonder Barcelona are keen. 4/27 Laurent Koscielny: 6 The Frenchman has been perfectly reliable alongside either Per Mertesacker or Gabriel but the lack of consistency in Wenger’s selection has rarely allowed Koscielny to settle. As such, while he has not often put a foot wrong, he has not quite been the dominant defensive presence of past years. 5/27 Per Mertesacker: 5 A frustrating season for Mertesacker began with a lengthy absence due to a virus and ends with a hamstring injury. Between then the 31-year-old has yo-yoed in and out of the side, never quite shaking the impression that he is no longer the imperious force he once was. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images 6/27 Nacho Monreal: 7 Arsenal’s Mr Reliable has missed just two Premier League matches all season and in the others he has made just two defensive errors. The best tackler in the side, he thoroughly impressed in a 2-1 victory over Leicester in February, where player of the year Riyad Mahrez was left looking very ordinary indeed. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 7/27 Francis Coquelin: 5 Coquelin’s season has been defined by two moments, an injury against West Brom in November robbing Arsenal of their crucial defensive anchor. He never entirely convinced on his return and his red in the second north London derby cost his side a victory they desperately needed in the title race. He now ends the season battling for a starting role. 8/27 Santi Cazorla: 7 His importance has only been magnified by his absence, Arsenal lacking any real balance in midfield without Cazorla pulling the strings. Against Manchester United and Bayern Munich in October he was exceptional. He could have been the difference in the title race. Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 9/27 Alexis Sanchez: 5 Statistically his goal return may have been perfectly adequate but Sanchez undoubtedly endured a sophomore slide in 2016. After returning from one of the longest injury absences of his career, something was missing; the endeavour was abundantly clear but too often the razor-sharp quality expected from the Chilean was nowhere to be found. Paul Gilham/Getty Images 10/27 Mesut Ozil: 8 As Arsenal drifted in the closing weeks of the season so too did Ozil, but don’t let that obscure a superb campaign that justifiably earned him player of the year considerations. Between October and January he carried the side, keeping them in the title race by sheer force of will and ensuring Olivier Giroud had a generous supply of gilt-edged chances. David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 11/27 Alex Iwobi: 7 In pre-season it was apparent Wenger had a formidable young star on his hands but the quality of the 20-year-old Nigerian has only become apparent in the back end of the campaign. Since impressing at the Nou Camp in March he has been unremoved from the starting XI; there’s no reason why that shouldn’t continue into next year. 12/27 Danny Welbeck: 7 Welbeck could not have wished to make a better return after 11 months out than his headed winner against Leicester and since then he has been a consistent and reliable performer for Arsenal, grabbing another crucial goal in a win over Norwich. But disaster has struck again for Welbeck, with the striker ruled out for nine months after yet another significant knee injury. 2016 Getty Images 13/27 David Ospina: 6 His calamitous dropped corner against Olympiakos threatened to cost Arsenal their place in the Champions League knockout rounds. However he made amends when filling in for Cech in March, making a host of important saves in a draw away to Tottenham. Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 14/27 Mathieu Debuchy: 5 From day one, when Debuchy struggled at West Ham, it was evident the Frenchman was not up for a battle with Bellerin. He rarely impressed when given a starting chance and is unlikely to be welcomed back with open arms after his loan at Bordeaux. 2015 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 15/27 Calum Chambers: 6 Chambers has struggled for game time in the Premier League but when given the chance has done rather well, particularly when thrust into 45 minutes of action against Leicester in February. However he needs more game time if he is to develop fully. (Michael Regan/Getty Images) 16/27 Gabriel: 5 After an impressive first few months in English football last season Gabriel has regressed notably this term. His English is a worry but not as much as his tendency to lose his head. He is lucky to have picked up only one red card this year. Dan Mullan/Getty Images 17/27 Kieran Gibbs: 5 He may not have been given many chances to steal his first team place back from Monreal, but when he has, Gibbs has not reached the standards usually associated with him. Does he want to be more than a reserve? If so, he may need to reconsider his future. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 18/27 Mohamed Elneny: 7 A surprise January buy amid all the talk of Lars Bender and Victor Wanyama but he may prove to be a bargain use of £7million. Composed on the ball, he has twice won Arsenal’s player of the month award and is carving out a starting spot for himself. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 19/27 Mikel Arteta: 5 The club captain’s departure may not be mourned this summer but in time the solidity he brought Arsenal on his arrival in 2011 will be more widely respected. This season though those calf and ankle problems have finally caught up with him and he is now too unreliable to earn a place on the bench. 20/27 Mathieu Flamini: 5 Another for who the ageing process has dramatically curbed his effectiveness. There were times he proved his doubters wrong but all too often a kamikaze Flamini was more likely to be found in and around the opposition area than shielding the back four. (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 21/27 Tomas Rosicky: N/A It is grimly appropriate that Rosicky’s final season at the club ends under a cloud of injuries. His return to the side for an FA Cup game against Burnley saw him substituted with injury inside six minutes, a heartbreaking end for a supremely talented individual. 22/27 Jack Wilshere: N/A Starting to feel his way back into the side in the final weeks of the season, just as he was this time last year. Wilshere remains exceptionally gifted but Wenger would be unwise to plan for his presence next time out. (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 23/27 Aaron Ramsey: 5 After months of campaigning Ramsey was given his chance in central midfield following injuries to Cazorla and Coquelin. And he blew it. Despite all the requisite talent to play anywhere in midfield he appears unable to display any semblance of positional discipline for two consecutive games.



Ramsey ends his season knowing he failed to make the most of his big chance. David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 24/27 Joel Campbell: 7 He may not get many chances under Wenger, who seemingly is not sold on the Costa Rican, but he will never let Arsenal down. In crucial games against Swanseas, Olympiakos, Liverpool and Tottenham he has risen to the occasion. David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 25/27 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 4 This was supposed to be the season he nailed down a starting spot, the tone seemingly being set by a match-winner in the Community Shield. But it was the following week against West Ham that we saw the Oxlade-Chamberlain who would be all too typical this season, careless in possession and prone to running down blind alleys. Add in the usual string of injury woes and this was an infuriating season for the youngster. 26/27 Theo Walcott: 4 Armed with that generous new contract and promises he would be Arsenal’s No. 9, Walcott started brightly. For a month or two. But since Christmas he has been as bad as ever over 10 years at the club. Jumping over a ball rather than competing with Younes Kaboul in a 0-0 draw with Sunderland typifies a wasted season for a player who still has an awful lot to prove. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 27/27 Olivier Giroud: 6 At the halfway stage of the campaign Arsene Wenger was convinced he had one of Europe’s best forwards. His hat-trick against Olympiakos almost single-handedly kept Arsenal in the Champions League. But then, as is so often the case with Giroud, the minutes took their toll and he became a shadow of himself, waiting 881 minutes for a Premier League goal until he found the net against Manchester City. Getty 1/27 Player ratings Which Gunners played their part this season? And who will have left Arsene Wenger fuming? 2/27 Petr Cech: 7 Undoubtedly there were moments where Cech’s displays saved Arsenal crucial points, as in the draw with Liverpool in early August. But equally recent weeks have seen the worrying return of his difficulties getting down quickly at his near post, with both Yannick Bolasie and Kevin De Bruyne stealing crucial points from Arsenal with tame efforts. (BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images) 3/27 Hector Bellerin: 8 Proving himself to be the best young right-back in world football Bellerin has continued his remarkable rise to prominence, coupling the attacking endeavour he showed last season with growing defensive acumen. This season has seen him prove his skills against Douglas Costa, Neymar and the Premier League’s best. No wonder Barcelona are keen. 4/27 Laurent Koscielny: 6 The Frenchman has been perfectly reliable alongside either Per Mertesacker or Gabriel but the lack of consistency in Wenger’s selection has rarely allowed Koscielny to settle. As such, while he has not often put a foot wrong, he has not quite been the dominant defensive presence of past years. 5/27 Per Mertesacker: 5 A frustrating season for Mertesacker began with a lengthy absence due to a virus and ends with a hamstring injury. Between then the 31-year-old has yo-yoed in and out of the side, never quite shaking the impression that he is no longer the imperious force he once was. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images 6/27 Nacho Monreal: 7 Arsenal’s Mr Reliable has missed just two Premier League matches all season and in the others he has made just two defensive errors. The best tackler in the side, he thoroughly impressed in a 2-1 victory over Leicester in February, where player of the year Riyad Mahrez was left looking very ordinary indeed. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 7/27 Francis Coquelin: 5 Coquelin’s season has been defined by two moments, an injury against West Brom in November robbing Arsenal of their crucial defensive anchor. He never entirely convinced on his return and his red in the second north London derby cost his side a victory they desperately needed in the title race. He now ends the season battling for a starting role. 8/27 Santi Cazorla: 7 His importance has only been magnified by his absence, Arsenal lacking any real balance in midfield without Cazorla pulling the strings. Against Manchester United and Bayern Munich in October he was exceptional. He could have been the difference in the title race. Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 9/27 Alexis Sanchez: 5 Statistically his goal return may have been perfectly adequate but Sanchez undoubtedly endured a sophomore slide in 2016. After returning from one of the longest injury absences of his career, something was missing; the endeavour was abundantly clear but too often the razor-sharp quality expected from the Chilean was nowhere to be found. Paul Gilham/Getty Images 10/27 Mesut Ozil: 8 As Arsenal drifted in the closing weeks of the season so too did Ozil, but don’t let that obscure a superb campaign that justifiably earned him player of the year considerations. Between October and January he carried the side, keeping them in the title race by sheer force of will and ensuring Olivier Giroud had a generous supply of gilt-edged chances. David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 11/27 Alex Iwobi: 7 In pre-season it was apparent Wenger had a formidable young star on his hands but the quality of the 20-year-old Nigerian has only become apparent in the back end of the campaign. Since impressing at the Nou Camp in March he has been unremoved from the starting XI; there’s no reason why that shouldn’t continue into next year. 12/27 Danny Welbeck: 7 Welbeck could not have wished to make a better return after 11 months out than his headed winner against Leicester and since then he has been a consistent and reliable performer for Arsenal, grabbing another crucial goal in a win over Norwich. But disaster has struck again for Welbeck, with the striker ruled out for nine months after yet another significant knee injury. 2016 Getty Images 13/27 David Ospina: 6 His calamitous dropped corner against Olympiakos threatened to cost Arsenal their place in the Champions League knockout rounds. However he made amends when filling in for Cech in March, making a host of important saves in a draw away to Tottenham. Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 14/27 Mathieu Debuchy: 5 From day one, when Debuchy struggled at West Ham, it was evident the Frenchman was not up for a battle with Bellerin. He rarely impressed when given a starting chance and is unlikely to be welcomed back with open arms after his loan at Bordeaux. 2015 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 15/27 Calum Chambers: 6 Chambers has struggled for game time in the Premier League but when given the chance has done rather well, particularly when thrust into 45 minutes of action against Leicester in February. However he needs more game time if he is to develop fully. (Michael Regan/Getty Images) 16/27 Gabriel: 5 After an impressive first few months in English football last season Gabriel has regressed notably this term. His English is a worry but not as much as his tendency to lose his head. He is lucky to have picked up only one red card this year. Dan Mullan/Getty Images 17/27 Kieran Gibbs: 5 He may not have been given many chances to steal his first team place back from Monreal, but when he has, Gibbs has not reached the standards usually associated with him. Does he want to be more than a reserve? If so, he may need to reconsider his future. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 18/27 Mohamed Elneny: 7 A surprise January buy amid all the talk of Lars Bender and Victor Wanyama but he may prove to be a bargain use of £7million. Composed on the ball, he has twice won Arsenal’s player of the month award and is carving out a starting spot for himself. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 19/27 Mikel Arteta: 5 The club captain’s departure may not be mourned this summer but in time the solidity he brought Arsenal on his arrival in 2011 will be more widely respected. This season though those calf and ankle problems have finally caught up with him and he is now too unreliable to earn a place on the bench. 20/27 Mathieu Flamini: 5 Another for who the ageing process has dramatically curbed his effectiveness. There were times he proved his doubters wrong but all too often a kamikaze Flamini was more likely to be found in and around the opposition area than shielding the back four. (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 21/27 Tomas Rosicky: N/A It is grimly appropriate that Rosicky’s final season at the club ends under a cloud of injuries. His return to the side for an FA Cup game against Burnley saw him substituted with injury inside six minutes, a heartbreaking end for a supremely talented individual. 22/27 Jack Wilshere: N/A Starting to feel his way back into the side in the final weeks of the season, just as he was this time last year. Wilshere remains exceptionally gifted but Wenger would be unwise to plan for his presence next time out. (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 23/27 Aaron Ramsey: 5 After months of campaigning Ramsey was given his chance in central midfield following injuries to Cazorla and Coquelin. And he blew it. Despite all the requisite talent to play anywhere in midfield he appears unable to display any semblance of positional discipline for two consecutive games.



Ramsey ends his season knowing he failed to make the most of his big chance. David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 24/27 Joel Campbell: 7 He may not get many chances under Wenger, who seemingly is not sold on the Costa Rican, but he will never let Arsenal down. In crucial games against Swanseas, Olympiakos, Liverpool and Tottenham he has risen to the occasion. David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 25/27 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 4 This was supposed to be the season he nailed down a starting spot, the tone seemingly being set by a match-winner in the Community Shield. But it was the following week against West Ham that we saw the Oxlade-Chamberlain who would be all too typical this season, careless in possession and prone to running down blind alleys. Add in the usual string of injury woes and this was an infuriating season for the youngster. 26/27 Theo Walcott: 4 Armed with that generous new contract and promises he would be Arsenal’s No. 9, Walcott started brightly. For a month or two. But since Christmas he has been as bad as ever over 10 years at the club. Jumping over a ball rather than competing with Younes Kaboul in a 0-0 draw with Sunderland typifies a wasted season for a player who still has an awful lot to prove. 2016 The Arsenal Football Club Plc 27/27 Olivier Giroud: 6 At the halfway stage of the campaign Arsene Wenger was convinced he had one of Europe’s best forwards. His hat-trick against Olympiakos almost single-handedly kept Arsenal in the Champions League. But then, as is so often the case with Giroud, the minutes took their toll and he became a shadow of himself, waiting 881 minutes for a Premier League goal until he found the net against Manchester City. Getty

"Yes," Wenger told the BBC when asked if he anticipates Giroud starting next season as his primary striker.

"I believe that Danny Welbeck being out now for a long, long time we will be on the road to look for one more striker.

"After that it's down to compete. Olivier has strong and weak moments so we have to deal with that.

"He is a bit unbelievable - he is in cycles. He scores in spells and then sometimes he scores less," Wenger added.

Giroud was the only player to feature in every one of Arsenal's Premier League games this season and he finished the campaign as the club's top scorer with a total of 16 goals.

The tally also represents Giroud's best ever goal return for a single season in England's top tier.