Atlético waives a transfer fee
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After Antoine Griezmann put his planned move from Atlético Madrid to Orlando City SC on hold at the beginning of March, it now looks like a transfer in the summer. According to consistent media reports, the 35-year-old striker has reached an agreement with the MLS club from Florida and is traveling to the USA this week to complete the deal. The trip has been agreed with the Spaniards, where Griezmann is under contract until 2027, reports “Marca”.
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Atlético is not putting any obstacles in the way of its record goalscorer (211 goals in 488 games). According to Fabrizio Romano, Griezmann is moving to Orlando on a free transfer. It is said that the 137-time French international has long harbored the dream of ending his career in the USA.
Orlando actually wanted to sign Griezmann at the start of the MLS season at the end of February. However, the veteran preferred to end the season with Atlético in order to possibly win one last title. In LaLiga, the Colchoneros are currently only in fourth place, 16 points behind FC Barcelona, but in the Champions League, coach Diego Simeone’s team will face the Catalans in the quarter-finals. The best chances for Griezmann and Co. also lie in the Copa del Rey. Atlético will face Real Sociedad in the Spanish Cup final on April 18th. This also closes a circle for him.
Griezmann first moved from San Sebastián to Madrid in 2014 – costing 54 million euros including money from a resale share. In 2019 he pulled out his €120 million release clause to go to Barcelona. The 2018 world champion wasn’t really happy there and returned to Atlético in 2021, initially on loan for a total of 32 million euros. With 488 appearances, Griezmann is in fourth place as the record player there and is only surpassed by his current teammates Koke (728) and Jan Oblak (532) as well as Adelardo (504). However, he can overtake the latter over the course of the season if no injury intervenes.
