Atletico Madrid is one of the most popular and oldest teams in Spain. The team for which the players especially strikers have made a name for themselves. In this article, we will introduce the world-class Atletico Madrid Forwards to you.
Adrián Escudero
Adrián Escudero García was born on 24 November 1927 in Madrid, Spain, he is the second all-time leading goalscorer for Atlético Madrid.
In 1945 he could break into Atletico from the amateurs Club Deportivo Mediodía and soon became an inseparable member of the team. On 8 March 1953, Escudero netted Atlético's 1000th goal in the top division, and five years after his achievement he decided to retire himself from football when he was only 30.
After his retirement, he still kept his relationship with the club but this time as a youth team coach then as assistant manager.
Adrián Escudero passed away on 7 March 2011. with his one and only club, he made 287 appearances and scored 169 goals.
Luis Aragonés
Luis Aragonés Suárez was born on 28 July 1938 in Madrid Spain. With his glorious performances, he is still considered one of the best Atletico Madrid forwards of all time, and also he had a successful background as the coach of Atletico in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Aragonés began his playing career with CD Getafe in 1957, at that time he got the nickname "the elf". After one year, he signed his contract with Real Madrid but he could never manage to get into the main team. He always played as a loan.
He had played in different clubs before 1964 as he signed with Atletico. At that period he was famous for his free kicking style so he was named "Zapatones", meaning "big boots. His influences on Atletico were so remarkable, in his very first spell with the club, he helped to win the title of 1965-66 season.
For a decade he stayed with Atletico before his retirement and starting his career as a coach. To date, Aragonés remains Atlético's all-time top goalscorer and is ninth in the club's all-time appearance list. In his 10-years stay, he made 165 appearances and scored 172 goals.
What's more, Luis Aragonés had became the boss of Spain national team in 2004. Under his leadership, Spain became the champion of Europe in 2008.
This legendary striker passed away on 1 February 2014 at the age of 75.
Joaquín Peiró
During Joaquín Peiró's professional football time in Spain, he would only play for Atletico, he was indeed a faithful player.
He was born on 29 January 1936 in Madrid, Spain. In 1954 He joined Atletico and spent 8 successful spells with them. In 1962, after more than 100 official goals for Atlético, he left Spain to continue his football in Italy till his retirement.
This talented forward passed away on 18 March 2020 at the age of 94.
He made 166 appearances and scored 95 goals.
José Eulogio Gárate
José Eulogio Gárate had spent almost a decade in Atletico. The legend was born on 20 September 1944 in Sarandí, Argentina. He began his career with SD Eibar in 1960 and then he joined SD Indautxu in 1963.
After three years in SD, he could break into Atletico Madrid and along with such great players to name Luis Aragonés, Adelardo, Javier Irureta, Enrique Collar, and Ufarte, made Atletico one of the greatest club in Spain in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At his golden age with Atletico, he made history, he won the Pichichi three times in a row between 1968 and 1970.
He was an extraordinary goalscorer who made 241 appearances and scored 153 goals.
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz was born on 20 March 1984 in Fuenlabrada, Spain. As a child, he adored football and so to catch his dream of becoming a well-known footballer he joined his first team, Parque 84 as he was only 5 years old.
Fernando joined the Atletico Madrid youth club in 1995 and he got promoted to the main team in 2001, then started his football career. Torres' first season in La Liga was in 2002-2003.
It was not an easy task for him but gradually he could get along. He remained with Atletico until 2007 and then joined Liverpool by a £20 million contract.
Torres- who is described as an eye for the spectacular- once again in 2015 joined Atletico Madrid and played there for 3 years. Meanwhile, he had also played in Cheleasa and Ac Milan.
He announced his retirement as he was playing in Sagan Tosu. He made his farewell in a J1 League match against Vissel Kobe on 23 August 2019.
With Atletico, he made 351 appearances, scored 121 goals, and had 16 assists.
Diego Forlán
Diego Forlan is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe, he was born on 19 May 1979 in Montevideo, Uruguay. His father is the former player Uruguayan international Pablo Forlán, and decided to follow him during his childhood.
On 22 January 2002, He joined Ferguson's Man United by a £6.9 million contract. However, his performances in Man United were not outstanding, after two years he left England to joined Villarreal and then he ended up in Atletico Madrid in 2007.
Diego Forlan could get fixed in the main arrangement and with his talent as a hardworking and creative player, he helped Atletico qualify for the Champions League for the first time in over a decade. He spent four successful years with Atletico and became the league's top scorer and the first player to win the Pichichi Trophy twice.
In his four-year spell with Atletico, he made 198 appearances, scored 96 goals, and had 32 assists.
Sergio Agüero
Commonly known as Kun Agüero, he was born on 2 June 1988 in Buenos Aires.
Like so many other Argentine boys, he had the dream of football so he joined the youth system of Independiente at the age of nine and became the youngest player to debut in the first division when he was only 15 years old, so he broke the record previously established by Diego Maradona- his current father in law- in 1976.
In 2003 he broke into Independiente main team and after 3 successful spells, he took a bigger step and joined Atletico in May 2006 for €20 million which broke the club's previous transfer record.
Based on his brilliant tactics, Sergio Agüero is considered to be one of the best strikers in the world. He has mentioned that the former Brazilian striker "Ronaldo" has influenced his style of play the most. He remained with Atletico until 2011.
He made 230 appearances, scored 100 goals, and had 46 assists.
Radamel Falcao
Radamel Falcao García Zárate was born on 10 February 1986 in Santa Marta, Colombia. To start his professional football career he joined Lanceros Boyacá. he made his debut on 28 August 1999, playing the last 20 minutes against Deportivo Pereira at the age of 13 years, at that time he became the youngest debutant at that level of Colombian professional football.
An achievement to promise his golden age. His football career got more serious as he joined River Plate in February 2001 by a $500,000 contract. After 4 successful years, he left River Plate to join Porto on 15 July 2009 by a €4.7 million contract.
In 2011 "El Tigre" joined Atletico Madrid, and his €40 million contract was signed on 18 August 2011, with the potential of rising to €50 million based on his performance. He then was considered the most expensive player in the club's history. He is acknowledged as a natural goalscorer and known for his Hat-trick record, which made him one of the best strikers of his generation.
Falcao spent 2 years with Atletico. He made 91 appearances, scored 70 goals, and had 9 assists.
Diego Costa
Diego da Silva Costa is well-known for his fiery temperament. He was born on 7 October 1988 in Brazil, and his father named his son after his football hero, Diego Maradona because he truly believed that his son would turn into a pro footballer, and his dream came true.
At age 15, Diego left his hometown to enjoy better football opportunities. His first club was Barcelona Esportivo Capela. despite all struggles, he could break into the upper level of football as in February 2006 he joined Braga.
Playing in Europe offered him many more chances. He joined Atletico in 2007- the time he was named the new Kaka- but till 2010 he played in some other clubs on loan. In 2010 he was completely transferred to Atletico.
He remained with the club since 2014 and once again after a 3-year break in Chelsea he rejoined Atletico On 21 September 2017.
However, his performance after his return was not brilliant, then he left European football in January 2021 and is currently playing for Atletico Mineiro.
Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann was born on 21 March 1991 in the commune of Mâcon in the département of Saône-et-Loire.
He had passed the trials of different football clubs but all of them rejected him due to his shortness, if only they knew he would turn into one of the famous strikers of all time.
Having tried different trials, he could break into Real Sociedad in 2009. Shortly after his debut, he proved himself as a worthy player.
For 6 years he remained there and later on, on 28 July 2014, Atlético Madrid officiated that the little prince would sign his 6 years contract with them. Two years after his debut with Atletico he got nominated for Ballon D'or and obtained 3rd place.
Until 2019 he played for Atletico and then on 14 May 2019 he left the club to join Barcelona. In his 5-year spell, he made 257 appearances, scored 133 goals, and had 50 assists.
Luiz Suarez
Luiz Suarez, 34, arrived at Atletico Madrid from Barcelona in 2020. Although Uruguayan has no longer young, but he still kept a high efficiency goals in Madrid, and earn the title of La Liga last season with the team.
Until August 2021, he made 41 appearances, scored 22goals, and had 3 assists.