Atletico Madrid send message with transfer business – the end of the Antoine Griezmann era is nigh

For more than a season, Antoine Griezmann had been very much been carrying the Atletico Madrid forward fine. Flanked by the likes of Samuel Lino, Rodrigo Riquelme, Alvaro Morata, Angel Correa, Joao Felix, Memphis Depay and Yannick Carrasco, the Frenchman was the only star of the standard that Atletico were being asked to compete against.

And a fine job he did too. Griezmann returned from the 2022 World Cup, having dragged France within inches of a second consecutive world title, in inspired form. It is no exaggeration to say he was the closest thing to a Lionel Messi-esque playmaker for 18 months after his heartbreaking trip to Qatar against the great Argentine, whom he used to share a dressing room with.

Even on the best trading app though, Griezmann stocks have fallen over the last year. While his form in the early stages of this past season remained strong, linking up with Julian Alvarez well, it became apparent that it was another of the players in the Argentina shirt that was becoming the new face of this Atletico side in the second half of the year.

Griezmann managed just five goal contributions from the second of February onwards last year. Beyond his production, the Frenchman was failing to impact games. Whereas previously everything went through the 34-year-old, he drifted in and out, not just struggling to run the game, but finding the running itself difficult for the first time in his career. For context, before February, Griezmann had scored 15 goals and given six assists – more than four times his production thereafter.

Already Griezmann found himself on the bench semi-regularly in the final stages of the Liga season, with the stakes lowered. He did little to argue for a central role at the Club World Cup either, and he is now slated for a reduced role next season, contributing in a different fashion.

If there was some residual faith that Griezmann could get back to his prior level, Atletico’s business in the transfer window has exhibited their own doubts. Villarreal playmaker Alex Baena tends to operate from deeper, and less centrally, but was undoubtedly creator in chief at La Ceramica, the role Griezmann did have at Atletico. Baena has even commented about how excited he is to play with Griezmann, as an admirer, and it is not hard to draw parallels between aspects of their game.

The arrival of Thiago Almada also casts further doubt on how much Griezmann will feature next season. Almada does not have the track record of even Baena, but in terms of his style, a left-footed playmaker with vision and timing, he is as close to Griezmann as you can find on the market for €21m. Atletico might be hedging their bets, but they have made up their mind that they can no longer rely on Griezmann.