Source: WCup winner Giroud signs deal with LAFC

AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud has signed a deal to join LAFC from mid-July until December 2025 as a designated player, a source confirmed to ESPN.

After weeks of negotiations and despite other offers from Saudi Arabia and Europe, the former Arsenal and Chelsea No. 9 decided to sign for LAFC on a contract of around €3 million ($3.2m) a year. He met with John Thorrington, the LAFC co-president, in Milan to sign his contract, with Giroud looking forward to a new chapter in his career in Los Angeles with the 2022 MLS champion.

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Giroud, 37, will join his friend and France 2018 World Cup-winning teammate Hugo Lloris, who signed for LAFC in the winter transfer window.

He has scored 13 goals and provided 8 assists in 30 games in Série A with Milan so far this season and is still part of Didier Deschamps’ France squad. Giroud owns the record for the most goals scored for the French national team (57 in 131 caps).

He will move to LA after taking part in Euro 2024 in Germany where Les Bleus are heavy favoritesd for the title.

The news of Giroud signing his contract with LAFC was first reported by Fabrizio Romano.

MLS will be Giroud’s sixth different league in his career after starting in the National (3rd division), Ligue 2 and Ligue 1 in France with Grenoble, Istres, Tours and Montpellier, where he won the French title in 2012.

He then moved to the Premier League in England, first with Arsenal, where he won three FA Cups, and then Chelsea, where he lifted the Champions League, the Europa League and the FA Cup. He joined Milan in 2021, winning the Serie A title in his first season.

Giroud has been a reliable goalscorer at club level, netting 276 times in a career that has spanned nearly 700 league and cup appearances.

He was part of France’s World Cup-winning side in 2018, playing in all seven matches. Giroud also represented France at two other World Cups and three European Championships.

LAFC has reached the MLS Cup in the past two seasons, defeating the Philadelphia Union in the final in 2022 before losing to the Columbus Crew in 2023.

The club has plenty of roster flexibility heading into the summer, with two designated player spots currently open.

After nine games of the 2024 season, LAFC sits in seventh place in the Western Conference with a 3-3-3 record. Giroud will bolster an attack that also includes 2023 MLS golden boot winner Denis Bouanga.