Giorgio Chiellini refuses to rule out retiring after MLS Cup Final and says he is undecided on his future… as Los Angeles FC star and Italy legend, 39, opens up on ‘dream’ 18 months in MLS

Giorgio Chiellini has admitted Saturday’s MLS Cup Final could be his final game of professional football, as the 39-year-old mulls whether to call time on his decorated career.

The LAFC defender, who joined the club in June 2022, told reporters Thursday that the club is open to him returning – but he has yet to make a decision on his future.

‘I still have doubt,’ he said. ‘I have to understand what I have to follow – if it’s my head, if it’s my heart, if it’s my leg. And many different calls arrived in the last weeks.’

Chiellini, who referenced his 2019 ACL tear when he was a Juventus player, also expressed his gratitude to still be playing.

‘Everything is a gift,’ he said.

‘I hope to win one more cup… this fantastic journey I want to enjoy till the end.’

Los Angeles will face the Columbus Crew as they look to repeat as MLS champs.

Whether or not this is it for the Italian legend, Chiellini has hugely enjoyed his time in LA.

He was part of LAFC’s squad that beat the Philadelphia Union in a bonkers 2022 final (though he did not appear in the game), and gushed Thursday about his time in Southern California to date.

‘I arrived last year with a lot of dreams and hopes,’ he said. ‘But I never could dream what [I’ve lived] in these 18 months. It’s something that has come into my heart, into my blood.’

‘It’s a beautiful experience that I share with with my family. It was hard, I want to be honest, it was very hard especially the first months of the last year when I arrived,’ he continued, referencing how his family had to settle and his daughters didn’t speak English.

Now, though, Chiellini is ‘loving everything’ about Los Angeles and MLS as he prepares for what could be his final match.