Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is one of the biggest stars in world football of the last decade, but at the age of 34, even Father Time is catching up to the French playmaker, and now he is headed to MLS, according to a report from Fabrizio Romano.
Per Romano, Orlando City have made an “advance in talks” to sign Griezmann from Atleti, and their director Ricardo Moreiro was recently in the Spanish capital as part of the club’s aggressive recruitment effort to sign Lionel Messi’s former teammate and bring a latest La Liga legend to the soccer-centric state of Florida.
In addition, Fab reports that Orlando’s goal is to have Griezmann sign in the “next weeks” ahead of him officially joining the club ahead of the coming 2026 MLS season.
Griezmann has transitioned into being more of a backup player for Los Rojiblancos this season with six starts compared to 16 appearances off the bench in La Liga, as he has clearly slowed down athletically.
But like Messi and the other former European superstars in MLS, Griezy’s technical quality and flashes of individual brilliance have not fully escaped him, and he could still dominate in MLS like Marco Reus, Son Heung-min, Thomas Muller, and other recent high-profile additions to the United States league.
Orlando City have one notable name in their side from Europe in former Atalanta standout Marco Pasalic, as his ex-Atalanta teammate Luis Muriel recently left to play in Colombia again.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.