This transfer window was indeed and it churned up yet another stunning move as Antoine Griezmann returned to Atletico Madrid from FC Barcelona. The la Liga champions have signed him on loan with an option for an additional year and another option to buy for 40 million euros. The french superstar had joined Barcelona from Atletico in 2019 for a mouth watering fee of 120 million euros but after a largely disappointing two year spell, he returns to the Rojiblancos aiming to rediscover his form.
Griezmann first joined Atletico Madrid in 2014 and spent five seasons there, developing into one of the deadliest forwards in football. He netted 133 goals in 257 appearances, convincing FC Barcelona to splash the cash to bring him to the Nou camp.
His for Barca regressed to the mean in the two seasons he spent there with his best outlay of 20 goals a season not even up to his worst in an Atletico shirt when he netted 21 in his last season.
It is understandable that Barcelona made this deal to enable them move on Griezmann’s substantial wages(after Messi’s departure he was the highest earner at the club), but it’s still a baffling move, loaning out a player they broke the bank for and back to a direct rival no less. Plus after Messi left for PSG, he was supposed to become the main star of the team. Also Barcelona sold Luis Suarez to Atletico last season and he ended up delivering the la Liga title to them leaving Barca eggfaced. Now the prolific Uruguayan is set to link up with Griezmann again making Atletico the favourites to win La Liga with massive help from Barcelona again.
It is a coup for Atletico, who if all goes well could resign their former fan favourite for a fraction of what they sold him for. This is in addition to the firepower Griezmann brings and the frightening prospect of him and Suarez a front two.
For Griezmann this is an attempt to recover his stardust and become the player who terrorises defences once again.