Olivier Giroud ‘excited’ to join Lille | OneFootball

Olivier Giroud (38) wasn’t expecting to return to Europe when he left AC Milan on a free transfer to join Los Angeles FC last summer. “If you had asked me the question a few years ago, I would have responded that it wasn’t the project to return,” he said following his final match for LAFC.

However, he will return. After 37 games and five goals for the MLS side, he will make the move to Lille OSC. Whilst LOSC are yet to officialise the move, Giroud has confirmed the impending transfer, and an agreement has already been reached regarding the centre-forward’s contract termination at the MLS side.

He has now said that he is “excited” by the prospect of playing in France and for Lille, 13 years after leaving France’s top flight when he made the move from Montpellier HSC to join Arsenal. “LOSC ticked a lot of boxes for me and my family. I hope to be useful for the team by being a leader on and off the pitch, a link between the players and the staff,” said the Frenchman in a press conference.

He added, “I am excited by the idea of playing in the Europa League. Lille are a big club in France.” Giroud’s move to Les Dogues, therefore, looks imminent. He joins a club who have seen some big names depart already. Jonathan David has left on a free transfer, whilst another striker, Chuba Akpom, has returned to parent club Ajax following the expiry of his loan. Rangers’ Hamza Igamane is also linked with a move to Lille as the club looks to reconstruct its forward line.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle