Giroud extends at LOSC for one more year and will play Champions League at 39

Olivier Giroud will continue his adventure at Lille for one more season. The 39-year-old striker has signed a new one-year contract with LOSC, the club presided over by Olivier Létang, according to L’Équipe. He will thus return to the Champions League, a competition he won with Chelsea in 2021.

The past season was mixed for the French international. Benefiting from the prolonged absence and then serious injury of Hamza Igamane, Giroud accumulated 44 appearances across all competitions, with a record of 7 goals and one assist in 30 Ligue 1 matches, and 4 goals in 12 Ligue Europa matches. His performances, however, were often judged insufficient, and it was ultimately Matias Fernandez-Pardo up front who propelled Lille towards direct qualification in the Champions League secured in the final matchdays.

Next season, Giroud will again occupy a backup role behind Fernandez-Pardo — unless the latter departs — and Igamane, expected to return in a few months after his injury. The coach who will lead the team will be Davide Ancelotti, the new Lille manager.

Meanwhile, the Isère native, who will turn 40 on September 30, made a notable appearance off the pitch. Present at the Grand Prix of Monaco, he later joined other 2018 World Cup champions — Raphaël Varane, Samuel Umtiti, Benjamin Pavard and Blaise Matuidi notably — for a Generation 2018 reunion, on the occasion of the Blues’ warm-up match against Northern Ireland at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Before joining Lille, Giroud had experienced a disappointing spell in MLS, at Los Angeles FC alongside Hugo Lloris. His choice to remain in Ligue 1 and play one final European campaign at the highest level testifies to undiminished determination, despite a statistical record that did not do him justice.