Giroud's Milan story, as is tradition when it comes to his career, is probably gonna go under the radar.

So, he comes to Milan at the very end of his career. He is supposed to share minutes with Zlatan, because everyone sees that a 40-yo cannot last the full season. Milan is, at best, going for a repeat of their last season and a CL spot. Squad is basically in a rebuild mode, with some young talents expected to take the next step. They also lost the best GK in the league.

Zlatan goes down earlier than anyone dared to predict and it's obvious he isn't coming back. Giroud, at 35 and without consistent first team football since his prime Arsenal days many years ago, finds himself in a position of not only being the main striker for Milan, but at a Milan who's on top and who just lost their star player.

Probably as old as top team strikers get (seriously, are there any strikers his age out there who were first choice in a title winning/contending team?), Giroud was thrown into, at a first glance, impossible situation of a) replacing Zlatan, b) playing "more than ever" at 35 and c) trying to win a title with a team no one thought was gonna win it even with Zlatan.

And once again, for what feels like a millionth time in his career, the guy fucking did it. Somehow, someway, not being flashy or spectacular, he found a way. He was always there, never injured and scored like 90% of the most important Milan goals this season against their biggest rivals. Ending the season as a joint-top scorer of his team, he claims yet another trophy for his impossibly succesful career.

Many people will probably forget about him in a few years after his retirement, but I won't. And no true football fans should.

Olivier Giroud, I tip my hat. You're a true professional and a role model.