Reigning Spanish champions Atletico Madrid are continuining their rebuild over the summer, as Diego Simeone has bought a second striker to help replace the loss of Diego Costa to Chelsea.
With Atletico reluctantly losing their star man from last season, they have already snapped up Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich this off-season and have now added French international striker Antoine Griezmann from Real Sociedad, subject tp him passing a medical at the Vicente Calderon.
Griezmann, 23, shone at the World Cup in various cameo appearances for France and the lively forward helped get Les Bleus to the quarterfinals in Brazil. Atletico confirmed in a statement that “the young French forward will sign a contract after he completes a medical” as Griezmann switches North East Spain for Madrid.
Last season he scored 20 goals in 49 games for Sociedad across all competitions and he has five seasons under his belt for the Spanish outfit. In that time he has bagged 52 goals in 201 appearances and Premier League teams such as Arsenal and Manchester United were said to be chasing him.
However Griezmann is heading to Atleti ahead of the new La Liga season as he aims to spearhead their defense of the La Liga title and succeed in Europe after they lost out in the UEFA Champions League final to rivals Real Madrid last season. With Griezmann’s clever runs off of Mandzukic’s flick on’s, the two have all the tools to become a deadly strike partnership for Atletico next season. Maybe there is life after Diego Costa, after all.