LAFC reportedly complete signing of legendary French striker Olivier Giroud

24/04/2024 23:07

It's time to get excited, LAFC fans!

According to reports from CBS Sports, the contracts have officially been signed to bring legendary French striker Olivier Giroud to LAFC through December 2025 on a free transfer from AC Milan during this summer's international transfer window.

At 37 years old, the Frenchman is proving true the cliché "age is just a number" with one of the most productive seasons of his storied career with 13 goals and eight assists across 30 Serie A matches. That's no small feat for a player whose resumé includes a World Cup, UEFA Champions League, multiple golden boots, and a Puskás Award.

Giroud has seen success both at the club level where he has played in three of Europe's top five leagues and at the international level where he remains France's all-time leading goalscorer with 57 goals.

By no coincidence, Giroud will be joining France's all-time leader in appearances, his friend Hugo Lloris, at LAFC. Both follow the recent trend of European legends donning the Black and Gold at the end of their career which began with Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini.

These are some of the biggest names in European football across the past two decades due to incredibly successful careers and Giroud is no different.

Since leading Montpellier HSC to the club's only Ligue 1 title by winning the Golden Boot with 21 goals and 12 assists in 2011/12, Giroud has won a major trophy at every club he's played for. In total, the French legend has won 13 trophies with club and country across an incredible 18-year career while playing in Europe's best leagues for some of Europe's best teams.

He will now bring all that winning pedigree and experience to a team in LAFC that in a short time has already proven itself to be an ambitious club with a desire to win in Major League Soccer. 

Notably, their biggest missing piece has always been an elite striker.

Outside of the success of Chicho Arango, LAFC has had a host of strikers from MLS journeymen Danny Musovski and Christian Ramirez to the more productive Adama Diomande and Bradley Wright-Phillips but none of them could compete with the production of the team's wingers. From Carlos Vela to Diego Rossi to Denis Bouanga, the Black and Gold have found their goals from out wide. The team's success in their first six years as a club has come as a result of each of those wingers winning the MLS Golden Boot.

Since the team moved on from Arango they have been searching for a way to fill that goalscoring void in the striker position and with former captain Carlos Vela still out of contract, Giroud may be the perfect answer.

So far this season, midfielder Mateusz Bogusz has been playing as a false-9 in Steve Cherundolo's 4-3-3 system in lieu of a natural, starting-caliber striker but in turn LAFC hasn't been clinical in the final third. They're still creating the second-most expected goals in the league (19.55xG) but rank 7th in goals scored (15) – a significant underperformance of expectation. Giroud will surely be hoping to correct that.

However, perhaps the best thing for LAFC is that Giroud is more than just a goalscorer. For a team like LAFC that is dangerous when playing on the counter, Giroud's elite ability in hold-up play and allowing the wingers to run off of him will only make the Black and Gold more frightening to opponents in that phase of play.

He is also very skillful in tight spaces which will be useful when attempting to break down a low block and could lead to some beautiful goals in combination with Bouanga or whoever else. How Giroud adjusts to the team's pressing style at 37 may be more of a mystery but when LAFC creates high turnovers – which they remain top 10 in MLS at creating even without Giroud – they'll finally have a 6 ft. 4 in. target man to aim for with an immediate cross into the box.

Of course, Giroud won't solve every problem for the Black and Gold such as conceding 14 goals through 9 matches this season but he will be expected to return the team currently sitting mid-table at seventh in the Western Conference back to competing near the top of the heap where they believe they belong.

Just how big of an impact he'll be able to make will continue to be debated but similar to the Barcelona boys in Miami, his potential should be anything but underestimated.