Olivier Giroud ready to get to work with LAFC

LOS ANGELES — Destiny flirted with delivering Olivier Giroud to the L.A. Galaxy in 2020.

Four years before the iconic French striker opted to head further north up the 110 and sign with the Los Angeles Football Club as a Designated Player, Giroud informed the Galaxy that he wasn’t quite ready to join MLS – knowing someday he would be.

Rather than replacing Zlatan Ibrahimović as the centerpiece of the Galaxy, Giroud picked the Swede’s brain about the league and L.A.

Teammates in Milan, Ibrahimović said the truth as he knew it: MLS is for goal scorers.

“He told me I will enjoy it,” Giroud said. “It’s a league for strikers.”

There was also a warning: “Be careful if you play in August in Houston,” Ibrahimović said. “It will be warm.”

As it is, LAFC is scheduled to visit Houston the first week of September and Giroud fully expects to be competing by then.

If the Black & Gold advance deep into the ongoing Leagues Cup competition, Giroud said he’s hopeful to be ready in a couple of weeks.

“I already started to stay fit and run a bit,” he said. “I feel good but I need to see with the guys at training.”

When he passed on the Galaxy’s offer, Giroud said he felt like he still had things to accomplish for club and country. The most prolific goal scorer in French national team history, a world champion in 2018, remained at Chelsea in the English Premier League prior to playing with AC Milan until this May.

A few weeks after his last ride with Les Bleus ended on July 9 in the European Championship semifinal against Spain, the 6-foot-3 striker arrived in L.A. on Wednesday.

The next day he was officially unveiled inside the same room at the InterContinental in downtown that hosted his good friend Hugo Lloris’ introduction on Valentine’s Day.

Despite delaying the start of Thursday’s press conference by 35 minutes due to the Giroud family’s first run-in with the city’s traffic, the No. 9, seated next to LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo, mentioned that “Hugo told me everyday is a blessing here in L.A.”

Representing France together for 11 years, the chance for Giroud and Lloris to team up on the club level “played a part also” in his decision to leave Europe after collecting 11 major trophies, scoring nearly 300 goals and making more than 700 appearances in England, France and Italy.

“We are kind of the same way of thinking,” Giroud said. “We share the same values. So when he told me he was very happy in L.A., for me it was obviously a significant plus.”

Since it was announced in mid-May that Giroud signed with LAFC, a wide swath of people associated with the club have contemplated the benefits of his addition.

Lloris said beyond Giroud’s ability and talent, he’s always been someone who makes everyone around him better on and off the field.

Cherundolo, who worked in a pair of significant summer signings with Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini during the team’s 2022 MLS Cup title-winning season, will be watching for Giroud’s effect on the team as he settles into L.A.

“I can’t wait to see him on the field interacting with our group,” said the coach, whose team trails the first-place Galaxy by two points in the Western Conference but has two games in hand. “But we’re looking forward to his qualities off the pitch. He’s a perennial winner, goal scorer, champion and these are the things we need to push our club even further. And most importantly for this particular group, his leadership skills.

“It’s really the piece we’re kind of missing so far this season. I’m looking forward to seeing that gel with our group.”

Cherundolo then gave Giroud carte blanche to lead by any means he desired.

“You have free rein with the group,” Cherundolo told him on Thursday. “You can say anything you want. I have your back.”

Giroud welcomes being counted on, especially in support of young players.

“I’m here to bring my experience and leadership even if I’m not the one who will scream every minute in the dressing room,” he said.

Giroud admitted that with his 38th birthday on the way at the end of September he’s not as fast as he once was, but his soccer intelligence is higher than it’s ever been.

“I scored a lot of goals last year and contributed to a great season two years ago when we won the Scudetto,” he said. “I feel good.”

Whenever they were asked, LAFC players all anticipated Giroud playing like the dynamic goal scorer and facilitator he has been for the past 18 years.

No one more so than French winger Dénis Bouanga.

The 2023 MLS Golden Boot winner said he expected “with Olivier it’ll be easier because the eyes will be on him so it will free some space. It’s going to be perfect. And he’s a really great attacker so he’s going to score. We cannot wait to have him on the team with us.”