Antoine Griezmann was presented as an Atletico Madrid player this afternoon after completing his move from Barcelona. The Frenchman heads to the Wanda Metropolitano on loan with an option to buy, two years after joining Barcelona from them. He’ll wear the number eight shirt for Los Rojiblancos.
Griezmann’s departure from Barcelona was a financial reality the club needed to face. They’re in the midst of a well-publicised crisis, one that meant they couldn’t afford to renew Lionel Messi’s contract at Camp Nou and had to allow him to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
Griezmann never looked to truly at home in the Catalan capital. Many Atletico fans reacted with joy to the news that the forward had cut his hair; they’d implored him to do so, and photos showed that while he arrived at the training ground with his ponytail this morning he cut it in time for his presentation; a short back and sides that hints at Atletico’s no-nonsense ethos.
Griezmann scored a brace for the French national team last night in a 2-0 win over Finland, and scored 35 goals in 102 games in total for Barcelona. With Atletico, in his first spell from between 2014 and 2019, the 30-year-old bagged 133 goals in 257 games.
“I’m content and happy,” Griezmann said to the club’s media on the day of presentation. “I’ve been ten days unable to sleep because I was waiting for this moment, but now I’m enjoying it with my family. I’m going to give everything to repay the great effort the club made to bring me back. My part was easy. I wanted to come back no matter what; it’s always been the best place for me, the place where I’m happy on and off the pitch.”
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