Olivier Jonathan Giroud^[2] was born on 30 September 1986^[3] in Chambéry in the Rhône-Alpes region, and was raised in the nearby village of Froges, close to Grenoble.^[4] He is of Italian descent through both of his grandmothers (Yvonne Avogadro and Antonia Gaiatto).^[5][6][7]

Independently of his professional career, Giroud, after obtaining his baccalaureate in economicsand social sciences (ES), completed a second year of a degree in science and techniques of physical and sports activities (STAPS) at the Joseph Fourier University, in Grenoble.^[8][9]

Giroud began organised football playing for his hometown club, Olympique Club de Froges. He spent six years training at the club before joining professional club Grenoble at the age of 13.^[4]

Giroud spent five years developing in Grenoble's youth academy before signing his first professional contract at the age of 21. He later admitted that signing his first contract was an important part in his development as a player, stating "It took me signing my first professional contract to become aware of my abilities. If you [a club] trusted me, it was because I must have had some qualities."^[10] Ahead of the 2005–06 season, he was promoted to the club's reserve team, which was playing in the Championnat de France Amateur 2, the fifth level of French football. Giroud quickly became an important player in the team scoring 15 goals in 15 matches.^[10] His performances over seven months with the reserve team resulted in the player being called up to the senior team in March 2006 by manager Thierry Goudet. Giroud made his professional debut on 27 March appearing as a late-match substitute in a 1–1 draw with Gueugnon in Ligue 2.^[11] He remained a part of the senior team for the rest of the campaign making five more substitute appearances.^{[citation needed]}

Giroud was promoted to the senior team permanently for the 2006–07 season by new manager Payton Pouliquen and Nicola Malgeri and was assigned the number 22 shirt. After appearing as a substitute in the team's first league match of the campaign, he made his first professional start in a 2–1 defeat away to Niortplaying the entire match.^[12] On 26 February 2007, Giroud scored his first professional goal netting the injury time winner against Le Havre.^[13] He described the goal as "a fantastic memory. I could not dream better for a first pro goal". A month later, Giroud made his third start of the campaign against Gueugnon. In the match, which ended 0–0, Giroud incurred his first professional red card.^[14] He finished the campaign with 18 total appearances and two goals as Grenoble finished in fifth place.^{[citation needed]}

In an attempt to earn some playing time, Giroud spent the 2007–08 season on loan at Istres in the Championnat National, the third level of football in France.^[10] Under the tutelage of manager Frédéric Arpinon, he continued his development as a striker and, in his second match with the club, scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over Laval.^[15] Two weeks later, Giroud scored goals in back-to-back matches against Vannes and Créteil.^[16][17] He scored his first double of the season in a 2–0 win against Arles-Avignon.^[18] A fortnight later, Giroud converted two goals again, this time in a 3–2 win over Pau.^[19] After going through the months of November and December without scoring a league goal, Giroud returned to form in January scoring goals in a 3–2 defeat to Vannes and a 2–0 win over Beauvais.^[20][21] He finished the campaign by scoring goals in April league fixtures against Paris and Martigues, which brought his total goal tally with Istres to 14.^[22][23]Of the 14 goals, Giroud only scored four at the Stade Parsemain, Istres's home stadium.^[24]

After a successful loan stint, Giroud returned to Grenoble with hopes of receiving some significant playing time as the club was now playing in Ligue 1. However, club manager Mehmed Baždarević, who was hired while Giroud was on his loan stint at Istres, deemed the player surplus to requirements and, subsequently, listed him for transfer. According to reports, Baždarević had declared that Giroud "did not have the level to play among the elite".^[10] In 2011, Giroud reevaluated his departure from Grenoble stating "I am neither resentful nor vengeful. I am just disappointed with what happened to Grenoble when there was great potential".^[10]

On 28 May 2008, it was reported that Giroud had agreed to a three-year deal with Ligue 2 club Tours. The striker was lured to the club by sporting director Max Marty who had previously served as the chief executive officer of Grenoble, Giroud's former club.^[10] Giroud was also fond of Tours's manager Daniel Sanchez stating "It's always a plus to have a former striker as a coach. His advice to me really helped a lot. With him, I progressed in my positioning and also in front of goal".^[10] Giroud was given the number 12 shirt and, due to injury, made his club debut on 3 September 2008 in a 2–1 defeat to Boulogne in the Coupe de la Ligue.^[25] He made his league debut a week later playing the entire match in a 1–0 win over Nîmes.^[26] A month later, Giroud scored his first goal for the club converting the opener in a league match against Lens. In the second half, he scored another goal to cap a 3–1 win.^[27] Two weeks later, Giroud scored his third goal for the club in a victory over Ajaccio.^[28]

In the Coupe de France, Giroud scored five goals in two matches. In the eighth round of the competition, he scored the team's only goal in a 1–0 win over semi-professional club Pacy Vallée-d'Eure.^[29] In the ensuing round against Réunionais club Jeanne d'Arc, Giroud scored four goals in a 7–1 win.^[30][31] Tours would later be eliminated in the next round by Lorient.^[32] After his four-goal display against Jeanne d'Arc, Giroud followed up the performance by scoring goals in back-to-back league matches against Montpellierand Metz.^[33][34] After a double against Nîmes on 20 February 2009,^[35] the striker suffered an injury, which forced him to miss three league matches. After making two substitute appearances on his return, in his first start since the injury on 3 April against Angers, Giroud scored the team's opening goal in a 3–1 win.^[36] Giroud later re-aggravated the previous injury in training, which led to him missing the entire month of April as Tours were contesting a promotion battle with several clubs. Despite losing Giroud, the club went unbeaten in the four league matches he missed. On his return against Boulogne on 8 May, Giroud scored his final goal of the season in a victory.^[37] In Tours's final three league matches of the campaign, the club failed to achieve a win, which resulted in the club failing to earn promotion to Ligue 1. Giroud finished the season with 27 total appearances and 14 goals.^[38]

In the 2009–10 season, Giroud was promoted to the lead striker role following the departure of Tenema N'Diaye to Nantes. The promotion immediately paid off as Giroud scored two goals in the team's opening match of the season; a 2–1 win over Le Havre in the Coupe de la Ligue.^[39] On 18 August 2009, he scored his first league goal against the same opposition in another win.^[40]Following another league goal in a win over Guingamp,^[41] on 18 September, Giroud scored all four of Tours's goals in a 4–2 win over Arles-Avignon.^[42][43] It was his second career four-goal match at the professional level and his third overall having had one at amateur level while playing with the Grenoble reserve team.^[44] In the team's next 15 matches in all competitions, Giroud remained on form scoring ten goals. During that span, the striker scored in consecutive matches on three occasions. Giroud finished the fall campaign with 16 goals, 13 of which came in league play.^[44]

On 26 January 2010, it was reported that Ligue 1 club Montpellier had signed Giroud from Tours on a three-and-a-half-year deal.^[45] The transfer fee was priced at €2 million and it was also announced that Montpellier would loan Giroud back to Tours until the end of the 2009–10 season.^[45][46] The striker admitted the move to Montpellier would benefit him the most stating "I feel that here (Montpellier), the coach and staff will be able to help me make real progress. The environment is ideal, the training center is good, the group is healthy, and there's a beautiful stadium with an audience that responds to this".^[47] Following the transfer, Giroud went three weeks without scoring a goal before converting one on 19 February 2010 in a win over Arles-Avignon.^[48] Two weeks later, he scored the team's only goal in a 2–1 defeat to Nantes.^[49] On 19 March, Giroud scored two goals in a shutout win against Châteauroux.^[50] A week later, he scored in another shutout victory over Strasbourg.^[51] After the goal against Strasbourg, Giroud went seven matches without scoring before netting on the final matchday of the season against Nîmes.^[52] He finished the season with 42 appearances and 24 goals. Giroud scored 21 in the league and was named the league's top goalscorer. After the season, he was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 2 Player of the Year. Giroud was also named to the league's Team of the Year.^[53]

Giroud officially joined Montpellier on 1 July 2010. He simultaneously made his club and Europeandebut on 29 July in the first leg of Montpellier's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round with Hungarian club Győri ETO. In the match, Giroud scored his first goal for the club in the first half.^[54] Montpellier won the match courtesy of Giroud's goal, but were defeated on aggregate after losing on penalties in the second leg.^[55]Giroud made his league debut in the team's first match of the campaign; a 1–0 win over Bordeaux.^[56] On 28 August, he scored his first league goal in a 1–0 away win against Valenciennes.^[57] On 25 September, Giroud scored two goals in a home victory over Arles-Avignon.^[58] The double brought his career goal tally to nine against the Bouches-du-Rhône-based club. A week later, he scored Montpellier's lone goal in a 3–1 loss to Lille.^[59] In November 2010, Giroud scored game-winning goals in consecutive weeks against Toulouse and Nice.^[60][61]

In the Coupe de la Ligue, Montpellier surprisingly reached the final of the competition.^[62][63] In the semi-finals against Paris Saint-Germain, Giroud played the entire match, which went into extra time. In the 117th minute, he scored the match-winning goal to send Montpellier to its first major final since the 1993–94 season when the club reached the final of the Coupe de France.^[64][65]In the 2011 Coupe de la Ligue Final, Montpellier faced Marseille and were defeated 1–0 courtesy of a goal by Taye Taiwo.^[66][67] Giroud played the entire match.^[68] Following his goal against Paris Saint-Germain, Giroud went scoreless for nearly two months before converting both club goals against the same opposition in a 2–2 draw at the Parc des Princes.^[69] Towards the end of the league season, Giroud scored goals against title contenders Marseille and Lyon. However, Montpellier lost both matches.^[70][71] After finishing the season as the club's top scorer, on 31 May 2011, Giroud signed a contract extension with Montpellier until 2014.^[72]

Giroud began the 2011–12 campaign on form scoring in the team's first two league matches of the season against Auxerre and the defending champions Lille.^[73][74] Montpellier won both matches. After scoring a double in a 2–2 draw with Brest,^[75] French newspaper Le Parisienaffectionately dubbed him le buteur de charme(the charm striker).^[76] The nickname paid tribute to his goalscoring ability, as well as personality and looks and was, subsequently, used by several other media outlets in France to describe the player.^[31][77] In the team's next 18 matches in all competitions, Giroud lived up to the nickname by scoring 13 goals. The impressive output consisted of hat-tricks against Dijon and Sochaux,^[78][79]match-winning goals against Nancy, Lyon, and Nice, and a goal each in the Coupe de la Ligueand Coupe de France.^{[80][81][82][83][84]}

As a result of Giroud's performance and the team as a whole, Montpellier topped the league table in November 2011.^[85] In January 2012, Giroud was linked with a transfer to several clubs. Montpellier's owner Louis Nicollin responded to the rumours on French radio station RTL and surprised many by deeming one club "not big enough" for Giroud, while also declaring that the striker would cost "at least €50 or €60 million".^[86]At the start of the second half of the campaign, Giroud scored in back-to-back league matches against Lyon and Nice.^[87][88] Two weeks later against Ajaccio, he assisted on Montpellier's second goal and scored the team's final goal in a 3–0 win.^[89] On 24 March 2012, Giroud scored in the 1–0 win over Saint-Étienne.^[90] The victory placed Montpellier at the top of the table and the club remained there for the rest of the campaign capturing its first league title in club history after beating Auxerre 2–1 on the final day of the season.^[91] Giroud finished the season with a league-leading 21 goals and 9 assists. Despite being tied on goals with Paris Saint-Germain attacker Nenê, he was named the league's top scorer by the Ligue de Football Professionnel due to finishing with more goals in open play.^[92]