Olivier Giroud

Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team.

He is France's all-time highest goalscorer.

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.

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.

He remained a part of the senior team for the rest of the campaign making five more substitute appearances.

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.

On 26 February 2007, Giroud scored his first professional goal netting the injury time winner against Le Havre.

He described the goal as "a fantastic memory. I could not dream better for a first pro goal".

A month later, Giroud made his third start of the campaign against Gueugnon.

In the match, which ended 0–0, Giroud incurred his first professional red card.

He finished the campaign with 18 total appearances and two goals as Grenoble finished in fifth place.

In an attempt to earn some playing time, Giroud spent the 2007–08 season on loan at Istres in the Championnat National, the third level of football in France.

Under the tutelage of manager Frédéric Arpinon, he continued his development as a striker and, in his second match with the club, scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over Laval.

Two weeks later, Giroud scored goals in back-to-back matches against Vannes and Créteil.

He scored his first double of the season in a 2–0 win against Arles-Avignon.

A fortnight later, Giroud converted two goals again, this time in a 3–2 win over Pau.

After going through the months of November and December without scoring a league goal, Giroud returned to form in January scoring goals in a 3–2 defeat to Vannes and a 2–0 win over Beauvais.

He finished the campaign by scoring goals in April league fixtures against Paris and Martigues, which brought his total goal tally with Istres to 14.

Of the 14 goals, Giroud only scored four at the Stade Parsemain, Istres' home stadium.

After a successful loan stint, Giroud returned to Grenoble with hopes of receiving some significant playing time as the club was now playing in Ligue 1.

However, club manager Mehmed Baždarević, who was hired while Giroud was on his loan stint at Istres, deemed the player surplus to requirements and, subsequently, listed him for transfer.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Olivier Jonathan Giroud was born in Chambéry in the Rhône-Alpes region and was raised in the nearby village of Froges, close to Grenoble.

He is of Italian descent through both of his grandmothers (Yvonne Avogadro and Antonia Gaiatto).

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.

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.

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."