The Frenchman is being linked with a move to the U.S., but remains a key man for Diego Simeone going into Saturday's showdown at the Bernabeu
Antoine Griezmann has another important decision to make. This time around, there will be no big reveal in a horribly ill-advised documentary – or an even more foolish U-turn less than a year later.
According to the latest reports, Griezmann will remain true to his word: Atletico Madrid will be his "final club in Europe". The only real doubt lies over whether he will leave this summer or next – and which MLS franchise he will join, given his well-known adoration for all things American.
The feeling is that the Frenchman, who will turn 34 in March, is leaning towards departing at the end of the current campaign, meaning Saturday could well be the last dance for 'The Little Prince' in a Madrid derby (although Atleti could yet draw Real in the last 16 of the Champions League). The stakes couldn't be much higher regardless, with the Rojiblancos currently sitting second in La Liga, just one point behind their hated city rivals after 22 rounds.
However, victory wouldn't just put Atleti back in the driving seat in an absorbing three-way title race also featuring Barcelona, it would also give Griezmann an even greater chance of adding a fairy-tale ending to a remarkable tale of redemption.
AFP'Griezmann, die!'
When Griezmann returned to the Metropolitano for the first time after joining Barcelona in the summer of 2019, some irate fans left toy rats on the plaque previously placed in his honour outside of the stadium. Inside, meanwhile, a banner was unfurled on the Fondo Sur that read, "You wanted to have a name and you forgot to be a man." When the forward appeared for the warm-up, "Griezmann, die!" rang around the ground.
For Atleti supporters, it wasn't so much Griezmann leaving that upset them, it was the way that he did so. His future was supposed to have been resolved once and for all after 'The Decision', in which he claimed that the fans had been a massive factor in him snubbing Barcelona.
"When you're shown love at home, you don't go elsewhere," he told . And yet when Josep Maria Bartomeu came calling again the following summer, Griezmann turned his back on the Rojiblancos.
AdvertisementAFPSimeone key to return
It wasn't in the least bit surprising, then, that Atleti's shunned supporters savoured the striker's subsequent struggles at Camp Nou. One of the main motivations behind his move was the desire to win a Liga title and yet he failed to get his hands on a first winners' medal in either of his two, ill-fated seasons with Barca.
In a delicious irony for Atletico fans, they pipped the Blaugrana to first place in 2020-21 thanks in no small part to Luis Suarez, who had been brutally binned by Bartomeu the year before. So, they were seriously unimpressed by their club's decision to re-sign one of the biggest flops in football history in 2021.
Griezmann, though, still had one massive fan at the Metropolitano in Diego Simeone, who welcomed the World Cup winner back with open arms.
Atleti had broken their transfer record to sign Joao Felix to replace Griezmann, but he wasn't fit to wear the No.7 shirt the Frenchman had left behind. Felix had neither the intelligence nor the industry required to play as a forward in Simeone's side.
Griezmann, by complete contrast, is as smart as he is selfless and a very rare commodity in modern football: a superstar willing to sacrifice himself for the team, which is why France coach Didier Deschamps always appreciated him just as much as Simeone.
Getty ImagesContract clause chaos
Not everything went according to plan during Griezmann's first year back at the Metropolitano. For starters, there was the clause in his contract that stated if he played 45 minutes or more in 50 percent of Atleti's games during his two-year loan, the Rojiblancos would be forced to pay €40 million (£33m/$42m) to re-sign Griezmann on a permanent basis. This created a farcical situation in which he was repeatedly used as a second-half substitute as Atleti tried to reduce his game time.
However, a compromise agreement was eventually reached with Barca which enabled Atleti to buy Griezmann outright for €20m (£17m/$21m) in October 2022 and, unsurprisingly, the resolution resulted in an immediate upturn in Griezmann's form, for both club and country.
Best player in La Liga
In a stunning demonstration of his versatility, which resulted in some long overdue love from the wider footballing world for Griezmann, he proved France's hybrid hero during their run to the final of the 2022 World Cup. And as soon as he returned to Atleti after the tournament in Qatar, he quickly set about proving himself the best player in La Liga.
In 2023, he was directly involved in 37 goals in all competitions – more than any other player plying their trade in Spain's top flight. In January 2024, he became Atletico's all-time leading scorer, surpassing the legendary Luis Aragones, who has a statue outside of the Metropolitano. Griezmann may well end up getting one of his own, as he's also just broken into the top 10 of the club's top appearance-makers.
Of course, that's a discussion for another day. Nobody at Atletico really wants to think about Griezmann's exit right now, not with the multi-talented attacker still performing so well.
