For more than a season, Antoine Griezmann had worn the Atletico Madrid very well. Flanked by people like Samuel Lino, Rodrigo Riquelme, Alvaro Morata, Angel Correa, Joao Felix, Memphis Depay and Yannick Carrasco, the Frenchman was the only star of the Standard where Atletico was asked to compete against.
And a great job he did. Griezmann returned from the World Cup 2022, after he had dragged France within centimeters of a second consecutive world title, in inspired form. It is not exaggerated to say that he was closest to a Lionel Messi-Osque playmaker for 18 months after his heartbreaking trip to Qatar against the great Argentinian, with whom he shared a dressing room.
Even on the best trade app, the shares of Griezmann have fallen last year. Although his shape remained strong in the early stages of the past season and connected well with Julian Alvarez, it became clear that it was one of the players in the Argentina shirt that became the new face of this Atletico side in the second half of the year.
Griezmann managed to manage only five target contributions last year from the second February. After his production, the Frenchman had no influence on games. While everything went through the 34-year-old, he drove in and out, not only struggled to run the game, but he found the running himself difficult for the first time in his career. For the context, before February, Griezmann had scored 15 goals and gave six assists – more than four times his production afterwards.
Griezmann was already on the couch semi-regulated in the last phases of the Liga season, with the effort reduced. He also did little to argue for a central role at the Club World Cup, and he is now planned for a reduced role next season, which contributes in a different way.
If there was any residual confidence that Griezmann could go back to his earlier level, the company of Atletico has shown their own doubts in the transfer window. Villarreal Playmaker Alex Baena operates the tendency to work deeper and less centrally, but was undoubtedly head of the Creator in La Ceramica, the role that Grayzmann had on Atletico. Baena has even noticed how enthusiastic he is to play with Griezmann, as admirer, and it is not difficult to draw parallels between aspects of their play.
The arrival of Thiago Almada also makes doubts about how much Griezmann will be next season. Almada does not have the track record of even Baena, but in terms of his style, a left -wing playmaker with vision and timing, he is so close to Griezmann if you can find on the market for € 21 million. Atletico can cover their bets, but they have decided that they can no longer rely on Griezmann.