Report: Giorgio Chiellini close to finalizing deal with Los Angeles FC

Giorgio Chiellini’s final game as a Juventus player has officially come and gone, as the 37-year-old warhorse went out — and got bloodied from his forehead one last time — in Saturday night’s 2-0 loss to Fiorentina. The natural progression after Chiellini’s last bow as a Juve player is a natural one: What’s next for King Kong?

We seem to have gotten a relatively big clue this past weekend.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Chiellini is “one step away” from heading to the United States to play in Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC. Heading to the U.S. isn’t a huge surprise seeing as ever since Chiellini leaving Juventus picked up steam and then obviously made to be well known and official, but the fact that Chiellini will see out the last year or two of his playing career in Los Angeles — a place that is very, very different from Turin — might come as a surprise to some.

Although, judging by Chiellini’s post on Instagram on Monday regarding the new “Top Gun” movie that premiers soon, maybe seeing him go to Los Angeles isn’t as big of a surprise as we think it is. (It’s ad thing, I know. Just go with it.)_

Chiellini has said during his farewell tour over the last week that he does want to experience a new adventure, pretty much adding fuel to the fire that a move to the United States — no matter if it’s for one season or beyond 2022 — was in the cards. Chiellini hasn’t truly said what’s next for him outside of “a new adventure,” with Los Angeles FC being the only Major League Soccer club that he’s been linked to.

So when Chiellini does finalize his deal with LAFC, it’s not going to be all that much of a surprise because this 37-year-old dude who spent the last 17 years at Juventus does truly sound like he wants to experience something different before he hangs his boots and head bandages up for good.

For all we know, this could come before Chiellini plays his final game with the Italian national team in a friendly against Paulo Dybala and Argentina at Wembley Stadium on June 1. Or, based on how he handled his announcement regarding leaving Juventus, it could very well come after his final match in the Azzurri’s classic blue kit. At this point, he can do whatever he wants because he’s Giorgio Chiellini and earned that right.