Once pillars of this AC Milan side, both Olivier Giroud and Simon Kjaer are reportedly set to leave the Rossoneri at the end of the season.
Kjaer, 35, has made 120 appearances for the club at the time of writing, since his initial arrival from Sevilla in January 2020.
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As for Giroud, 37, he joined from Chelsea in July 2021, and has since gone on to score 47 goals and provide 20 assists in 128 appearances for the club.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the French international will leave us this summer to join LAFC, while Antonio Vitiello has reported on comments from Kjaer’s agent this week, who has confirmed that the Danish stalwart will depart when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
The experienced duo have made crucial contributions to the club during their time with us, as they’ve been pivotal players both on and off the pitch during Stefano Pioli’s tenure, the highlight of which was undoubtedly our Serie A title success in 2022.
While they’ve been vital in our consistency to qualify for the Champions League for the last four consecutive years too and helped us reach the semi-finals of the competition last season, their leadership, professionalism and know-how would have been invaluable in terms of their presence in the dressing room.
Should they move on as touted this summer, Milan will lose two important figures that will leave voids behind that must be filled, but just as with the expectation that Pioli is set to leave and that the Rossoneri need a coaching change to instil fresh ideas and energy at the club, it’s a similar scenario with the squad in these key areas.
At 37 and 35 years of age respectively, Giroud and Kjaer have entered the latter stages of their careers, and particularly with a new coach likely to come in with his own philosophy and style of play that might not suit them at this point, it’s imperative that the Milan hierarchy make space in the squad for a potential new coach to impose and implement his ideas with his own preferred personnel.
There could, and arguably should, be more to follow to continue down this path, but Milan must also be careful not to lose that integral aspect within the group of having senior players capable of setting the example and standard for the younger individuals.
Looking at the current squad, key players like Mike Maignan, Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez, Ismael Bennacer, Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao will have to grow into those roles more than ever before.
This summer could be a critical crossroads for Milan in terms of how competitive we’ll be in the next two or three seasons. It feels as though a cycle is coming to end if Pioli, Kjaer, Giroud and potentially others move on at the end of the season, and it’s going to be absolutely fundamental for our future that we bring in the right replacements to fill those voids effectively.