At 40, Olivier Giroud Says Arsenal Made His Career Fly
Olivier Giroud turned 40 on September 30, and the French striker marked the milestone with a long interview in L’Équipe, looking back on a career that took him from a late-blooming start in France to the top of English football and a World Cup winner’s medal with France. Now playing for Lille in Ligue 1, Giroud said he feels more at peace with himself than ever, and that the warm receptions he gets in stadiums across France mean a great deal to him.
Asked when his career truly took off, Giroud pointed to 2012, the year he joined Arsenal after a remarkable season with Montpellier. That campaign, he said, was one of the best of his life, and it pushed him into a different tier of the game. Arriving at Arsenal, he explained, meant stepping into a real giant of a club, with standards, facilities and expectations far above what he had known before. He even recalled playing his second match at Anfield, where the home crowd was already singing at him — a taste of the pressure and theatre that comes with English football.
Giroud’s career is unusual for how late it accelerated. He did not become a household name until his mid-twenties, and he has since played for Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan and now Lille, collecting major trophies along the way. With France, he became the national team’s all-time leading scorer before retiring from international duty, and he was part of the squad that won the 2018 World Cup. For a player who was once written off as a squad option, the longevity is striking.
That longevity has come at a physical cost. Giroud told the paper that his ankles have suffered a great deal, saying the ligaments in his right ankle are almost gone. It is a blunt, matter-of-fact admission from a striker who spent years absorbing challenges from centre-backs in the most physical leagues in Europe. He described his relationship with his own body as one of management and compromise, rather than the fearless abandon of his younger years.
What has not faded is his appetite for scoring. Giroud said the feeling after a goal is something nothing else can replace, and that the emotion still drives him even at 40. He also spoke about being relaxed in a way he was not earlier in his career, having made peace with everything he has achieved. That calm, he suggested, is part of why he can still compete at the top level in France.
His return to Ligue 1 with Lille has given French fans a chance to see him up close again, and he noted how special the welcomes have been, mentioning the reception from Lens supporters in particular. For a player who spent more than a decade abroad, the homecoming has been a reminder of how he is regarded in the country where he learned the game.
Giroud’s story is also a lesson in patience. He was not a teenage prodigy, and his path to the top ran through lower-profile clubs and seasons where he had to prove himself again and again. Each move — Montpellier, Arsenal, Chelsea, Milan, Lille — demanded a fresh adjustment, and each time he found a way to be useful, whether as a starter, a target man or a late substitute.
At 40, Giroud is still playing, still scoring and still talking about the game with obvious affection. Whether this is his final season or one of several more, his reflections offer a clear-eyed view of what a long career costs and what it gives back. For younger players, the message is simple: the breakthrough can come late, and the joy of a goal does not age.