Olivier Giroud's next matches with AC Milan will have a very special flavor.
They could well be the last of the French international striker (37 years old, 129 caps, 56 goals) on European lawns.
His departure this summer for Los Angeles FC is close to being finalized, according to the latest information.
Free from any contract in June, Olivier Giroud would reunite with his former partner and captain in the selection, comrade-in-arms during the victorious Russian campaign in 2018, Hugo Lloris.
The latter signed there at the start of the year after long months without playing for Tottenham.
Wednesday morning, the American franchise published on its X account a video of a mailing of a cap flanked by the
“LA”
logo .
The caption is in French:
“Good night”
.
To this tweet, Hugo Lloris himself responded with a smiley face, a pair of eyes, seeming to say
“I’m watching this closely”
.
Unequivocal.
Created in 2014, Los Angeles FC has been playing in Major League Soccer since 2018, the major championship across the Atlantic.
He won it in 2022 and reached the final in 2023.
What future with the Blues?
According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, always very informed about the transfer window, announces that LAFC and Olivier Giroud have reached an agreement for a contract until December 2025. However, nothing has been signed yet.
The news of the striker's transfer to California was initially revealed by American media
The Athletic
.
Read alsoGiroud, Thuram, Kolo Muani: the undecided match of number 9s among the Blues
Author of 14 goals in 37 matches in all competitions this season with the Rossonneri, the former Montpellier (2010-2012), Arsenal (2012-2018) and Chelsea (2018-2021) remains a prolific scorer, both for club and national team. .
This is evidenced by his new goal with the Blues on Tuesday evening in a friendly against Chile (3-2), the 57th of his international career.
It remains to be seen whether the top scorer in the history of the France team will say goodbye to the selection after more than thirteen years of good and loyal service.
In the meantime, he is almost guaranteed to play in the Euro