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Olivier Giroud to play for MLS side from next season.
AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud has agreed to join LAFC as a designated player beginning in mid-July and ending in December 2025.
After weeks of discussions, and despite alternative offers from Saudi Arabia and Europe, the former Arsenal and Chelsea No. 9 agreed to sign with LAFC on a contract for roughly €3 million ($3.2 million) per year.
Giroud signed his contract with LAFC co-president John Thorrington in Milan, and he is excited to begin a new chapter in his career with the 2022 MLS champion.
Giroud will join his friend and France 2018 World Cup winning teammate Hugo Lloris, who signed with LAFC during the winter transfer window.
LAFC appears to have signed AC Milan star and French international Olivier Giroud on a free transfer, according to reports of an agreement between the player and the club.
According to transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano, Giroud signed a contract to join the Black and Gold this summer on Tuesday, less than a month after verbally agreeing to join the MLS team in March. His new contract runs until December 2025.
Earlier this spring, Giroud was connected with moves to the United States, Saudi Arabia, and even staying in Europe, but it looks that he has made up his mind. He’ll make $3.2 million each year as a Los Angeles FC player, according to ESPN.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker has 13 goals and eight assists in 30 Serie A games for Milan this season and is a member of Didier Deschamps’ France team.
Giroud will play in the MLS for the sixth time in his career, having previously played in the National (third level), Ligue 2, and Ligue 1 in Franche with Grenoble, Istres, Tours, and Montpellier.
Olivier Giroud | European Football Career
He subsequently traveled to England to play in the Premier League, first with Arsenal, where he won threeFA Cups, and later with Chelsea, where he won the Champions League, Europa League, and FA Cup.
He joined AC Milan in 2021 and won the Serie A title in his debut season.
Giroud has 276 goals in nearly 700 club appearances. He was also part of France’s World Cup-winning squad in 2018 and appeared in all seven games.
He also represented France in two more World Cups and three European Championships.
Giroud holds the record for most goals scored for the French national team (57 in 131 appearances).
He will go to Los Angeles after competing in Euro 2024 in Germany, where France is considered the big favorite to win the title.
After parting ways with Carlos Vela in 2023, LAFC signed 39-year-old forward Kei Kamara this week to improve the team’s scoring troubles.
After nine games of the 2024 season, the Black and Gold are in seventh position in the Western Conference with a 3-3-3 record. Giroud will add to an offense that already has MLS Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga.
