Griezmann's decision to stay at Atletico Madrid

This may be the end of the rumours about Antoine Griezmann’s future. The explosive French forward decided to stay at Atletico Madrid. The Frenchman had been linked with a move to the English giants Manchester United, but the speculation may now be over.

Griezmann’s decision may have been shaped by the ban on incoming transfers that Atletico Madrid faced for the following season. The club had recently been sanctioned for improperly signing young players. That looked like a serious problem for Atletico, since they were expected to sell their best player, Griezmann, and had almost signed Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette as a replacement. With Griezmann committed to the club, the sanction no longer seemed quite so harsh.

The forward posted a photo of himself in an Atletico Madrid shirt on social media, writing above it that he could not leave the club because Atleti needed him. The Frenchman had recently put his chances of moving to Manchester United at 60%, but now everything was clear and he would keep playing for Atletico Madrid.

Antoine Griezmann is a player who had been at Atletico Madrid since 2014, when he signed from Real Sociedad. Since then he had played 160 matches in the colours of Los Rojiblancos and scored 83 goals for the club in all competitions. Shortly after arriving at Atletico, Griezmann became a first-choice forward for the French national team, and he had scored 15 goals in 41 appearances for France.

Griezmann is an integral part of Atletico Madrid, and the team would not be the same without him. He brings creativity and imagination to Atleti’s play. His partnership with Kevin Gameiro in attack also promised to be even more dangerous for opposing defences in the next campaign, given the great understanding between the two on the pitch.

The transfer ban behind the decision

The sanction that shaped Griezmann’s choice was confirmed at the start of June 2017, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the two-window registration ban that FIFA had imposed on Atletico Madrid over the signing of minors. The court reduced the club’s fine from 900,000 to 550,000 Swiss francs, but the ban itself stayed in place, so Atletico could not register new players until January 2018. The club called the ruling discriminatory, while FIFA welcomed it as support for the protection of underage players.

With no replacement possible, Atletico needed to keep their key players, and Griezmann went further than staying. In June 2017 he extended his contract by one more year. A season earlier he had been the top scorer at Euro 2016 with six goals and had finished third in the 2016 Ballon d’Or voting, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, so his decision kept one of the most sought-after forwards in Europe at the Spanish club.

How the next seasons went

The loyalty brought a trophy within a year. On 16 May 2018 Atletico Madrid met Marseille in the Europa League final in Lyon, and Griezmann scored once in each half before Gabi added a late third for a 3-0 win. It was Atletico’s third Europa League title, after 2010 and 2012.

Two months later Griezmann reached the top of international football. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 World Cup final in Moscow, and the forward scored a penalty to put his side 2-1 up before half-time. He was named man of the match in the final, finished the tournament with four goals, won the Silver Boot on assists and received the Bronze Ball as the third-best player of the World Cup.

The Manchester United move never happened. Griezmann eventually left Atletico in the summer of 2019, when Barcelona paid his €120 million release clause and announced the signing on 12 July 2019. The stay in Catalonia was short. On 31 August 2021 he returned to Atletico Madrid on loan, and on 10 January 2024 he became the club’s all-time leading scorer with a goal against Real Madrid in the Supercopa de España, moving past the record of Luis Aragonés.