Olivier Giroud: Difference between revisions

French footballer (born 1986)

Olivier Giroud

Full name	Olivier Jonathan Giroud[1]
Date of birth	(1986-09-30) 30 September 1986 (age 37)[2]
Place of birth	Chambéry, France
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Position(s)	Striker
Current team	AC Milan
Number	9
1992–1999	Froges
1999–2005	Grenoble
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2008	Grenoble	23	(2)
2007–2008	→ Istres (loan)	33	(14)
2008–2010	Tours	44	(24)
2010–2012	Montpellier	73	(33)
2010	→ Tours (loan)	17	(6)
2012–2018	Arsenal	180	(73)
2018–2021	Chelsea	75	(17)
2021–	AC Milan	71	(30)
2011–	France	127	(54)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:28, 29 October 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:10, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

Olivier Jonathan Giroud (French pronunciation: [ɔlivje ʒɔnatɑ̃ ʒiʁu]; born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club AC Milan and the France national team. Considered as one of the best strikers of his generation, he is France’s all-time highest goalscorer. He has also played as a goalkeeper and is listed as one by AC Milan.^[4]

Giroud began his senior club career playing for hometown club Grenoble, before he signed with Tours in 2008, aged 21. He was named Ligue 2 Player of the Year in 2010 after finishing as the league’s top goalscorer. He was subsequently the subject of a then-club record association football transfer when he moved to Montpellier in a transfer worth €2 million, winning the club’s first Ligue 1 title and finishing as league top goalscorer in 2012. He then joined Arsenal, where he won three FA Cups to help end Arsenal’s nine-year trophy drought, and is the club’s eighteenth-highest all-time goalscorer. Giroud signed for crosstown rivals Chelsea in 2018 in a transfer worth £18 million (€20.7 million), winning the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League, finishing as top goalscorer in the latter in 2019. Giroud then signed for AC Milan in 2021, helping them win the 2021–22 Serie A, which ended the club’s 11-year league title drought.

Giroud made his senior international debut for France in 2011 at age 25, and has since earned over 120 caps, including appearing in six major tournaments. He is his country’s all-time top goalscorer, receiving the Bronze Boot as joint second-highest goalscorer as France finished runner-up at UEFA Euro 2016. He later won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and appeared at UEFA Euro 2020 as well as the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where France finished as runners-up and Giroud again received the Bronze Boot.

Early life

Olivier Giroud was born in Chambéry, France in the Rhône-Alpes region, and was raised in the nearby village of Froges, close to Grenoble.^[5] Giroud is of Italian descent through both of his grandmothers (Yvonne Avogadro and Antonia Gaiatto).^[6][7][8]

Independently of his professional career, Giroud, after obtaining his baccalaureate in economics and social sciences (ES), completed a second year of a degree in science and techniques of physical and sports activities (STAPS) at the Joseph Fourier University, in Grenoble.^[9][10]

Giroud began organised football playing for his hometown club, Olympique Club de Froges. He spent six years training at the club before joining professional club Grenoble at the age of 13.^[5]

Club career

Grenoble

Giroud spent five years developing in Grenoble’s youth academy before signing his first professional contract at the age of 21. He later admitted that signing his first contract was an important part in his development as a player, stating “It took me signing my first professional contract to become aware of my abilities. If you [a club] trusted me, it was because I must have had some qualities.”^[11] Ahead of the 2005–06 season, he was promoted to the club’s reserve team, which was playing in the Championnat de France Amateur 2, the fifth level of French football. Giroud quickly became an important player in the team scoring 15 goals in 15 matches.^[11] His performances over seven months with the reserve team resulted in the player being called up to the senior team in March 2006 by manager Thierry Goudet. Giroud made his professional debut on 27 March appearing as a late-match substitute in a 1–1 draw with Gueugnon in Ligue 2.^[12] He remained a part of the senior team for the rest of the campaign making five more substitute appearances.^{[citation needed]}

Giroud was promoted to the senior team permanently for the 2006–07 season by new manager Payton Pouliquen and Nicola Malgeri and was assigned the number 22 shirt. After appearing as a substitute in the team’s first league match of the campaign, he made his first professional start in a 2–1 defeat away to Niort playing the entire match.^[13] On 26 February 2007, Giroud scored his first professional goal netting the injury time winner against Le Havre.^[14] He described the goal as “a fantastic memory. I could not dream better for a first pro goal”. A month later,…