Los Angeles FC ‘finalizing terms with France international Olivier Giroud… with deal running through 2025 and beginning after the Euros’

Los Angeles FC are close to a deal to sign AC Milan striker and France’s all-time leading international goalscorer, Olivier Giroud.

Giroud, 37, would join the team after this summer’s Euros in a deal that runs through the 2025 MLS season.

He currently has 12 goals and eight assists in more than 1,850 league minutes with AC Milan this season.

The agreement, first reported by The Athletic’s Tom BogertIt came when LAFC owned the discovery rights to the French star, meaning they had priority to sign him before any other Major League Soccer club.

Giroud would join an LAFC team with a potent attack consisting of current MLS Golden Boot holder Denis Bouanga and Uruguayan international Cristian Olivera.

Giroud currently plays for AC Milan, where he has 12 goals and 8 assists in 26 Serie A games.

Before Milan, Giroud was known for his spells at Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea.

LAFC has been operating without a true striker to start the season, with Mateusz Bogusz, who traditionally plays in central midfield, operating as a false nine.

But LAFC has survived without a scoring threat at the top, taking seven points from five games to start the year.

Giroud is probably best known for his time at London club Arsenal, where he scored 105 goals in 253 appearances.

From there, he changed London clubs and moved to Chelsea in the 2017-18 season. After three full seasons at Stamford Bridge, he left in the summer of 2021 for his current club, AC Milan.

He has scored a total of 281 club goals in 683 appearances, including spells at Grenoble, Istres, Tours and Montpellier before moving to the Premier League.

With the French national team, he won the 2018 FIFA World Cup and scored 57 goals in 131 appearances, a record for Les Blues.

At LAFC, he will join fellow French international Hugo Lloris, who joined the club in the winter transfer window.