Ligue 1

Olivier Giroud Signals Likely Retirement After This Season at Lille

By Hugo Brennan

Olivier Giroud Signals Likely Retirement After This Season at Lille

Olivier Giroud’s 40th birthday arrives with a familiar image: a striker still working, still scoring his way through another French season, but increasingly aware that the final whistle is approaching. The Lille forward has indicated that the current campaign will probably be the last of his playing career.

Giroud points towards retirement

The 2018 World Cup winner said he is savouring each moment as the prospect of retirement becomes more concrete.

“We can gladly do interviews again next year, but as a player, I think this is very probably my final season,” Giroud said. “That is why I am enjoying every moment.”

Giroud, who turns 40 on Wednesday, has already stepped away from international football. He ended his France career in July 2024 after 137 caps and 57 goals, both figures underlining the scale of his place in the national side’s modern history.

A career stretching from Grenoble to Lille

  1. Giroud began his professional career with Grenoble in Ligue 2 in 2006.
  2. He later won the Ligue 1 title with Montpellier in 2012, the breakthrough season that propelled him into English football.
  3. His five and a half years at Arsenal brought four FA Cups, won in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.
  4. He then spent two and a half seasons at Chelsea, where he lifted the Europa League in 2019 and the Champions League in 2021.
  5. After moving to AC Milan, he added the Serie A title in 2022.
  6. Giroud subsequently joined Los Angeles FC and won the 2024 US Open Cup during his spell in Major League Soccer.
  7. He returned to France with Lille, where he is now preparing for what may be the closing chapter of a long club career.

Arsenal reunion ahead in Europe

There is still a notable appointment to come. Lille will face Arsenal on 13 October in the second matchday of the Champions League league phase, giving Giroud a meeting with the club where he spent more than five years.

In Ligue 1, Lille sit just outside the top three after five rounds. They have 10 points, level with Rennes, as Giroud continues to contribute to a side still chasing a strong domestic and European season.