Olivier Giroud was once again decisive for AC Milan during Sunday’s 3-1 win over Roma at San Siro, but his future beyond this season remains a mystery.
This morning’s Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) draws an interesting parallel with Milan’s past. There was the Dutch trio of Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten, while before that were the Swedish trifecta of Gren, Nordahl and Liedholm.
Even if the successes are perhaps not comparable to those of other eras, the current Milan seems to be French and the leader of this group is the most mature of all: Olivier Giroud.
When Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to Milan and began to lead the Rossoneri with goals, the comparison was made with Benjamin Button. What Giroud has done since he arrived at Milanello, even alongside Zlatan, is not that different.
In each passing season, with an extra year under his belt, the Frenchman does better than the year before. With the goal scored against Roma, he reached double figures for the third consecutive season in the league.
He is currently in line to beat his personal record for goals in a season both with Milan and in his career. After Lautaro Martinez he is second in the Serie A scoring charts and after Marcus Thuram he is also second in the assists table.
Giroud continues to make a difference and all of this is at the age of 37. He will turn 38 in September, but will he celebrate another birthday with the Rossoneri or will it be elsewhere?
He will complete his third season with the Rossoneri, and in June his deal is currently set to expire. At the moment there have been no talks about a renewal, but the feeling is that Milan still want to focus on Giroud for at least another year.
Clearly this summer he would be joined by a younger striker and the former Chelsea man would probably have to accept a supporting role. Everything will revolve around this rather than economic reasons.
Much will also depend on the player’s will: at 38 years old, with his family, he could also decide to undertake a less pressure-driven career ending with an experience in MLS.
One good game after 3-5 average games and he’s “age-defying”
10 goals and 6 assists in 17 apperances – one good game xD
As for Giroud – he needs to stay. Whoever comes in summer will have to work extra hard to take the starting spot from him.
If Giroud stays he needs to play less regularly to be more effective. That means Milan need to sign a reliable striker though.
Giroud is class ,,also has been. …i do hope he signs another season for us …I did predict that he would score around 20 goals this season in all competitions, but that said it could even be more …such an experienced player ,,,with great desire to win ..
Yes he is a fighter…what a performance he put in against Roma …just got got to mention Aldi ,,he is getting better all the time ,and what a game he had .