Griezmann agrees Orlando City move to become MLS’s second-best player – but Messi’s not top

Robin Bairner

23 Mar 2026 07:01 CDT
2 min read

Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, MLS — © IMAGO

Antoine Griezmann has agreed to sign with Orlando City in MLS at the end of his Atletico Madrid contract, multiple sources have confirmed.

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Griezmann came close to leaving Atleti for the US during the winter transfer window but opted to remain with Diego Simeone’s side until the summer.

Although he will see out his contract in the Spanish capital, he will leave as a free agent for Orlando at that point, having agreed a two-year deal with the franchise.

Griezmann agrees two-year Orlando City move

A verbal agreement is in place, but Griezmann is set to take advantage of the international break to travel to Orlando to complete his signing with the club this week, Marca reports.

Atletico Madrid have agreed to this move and have made it clear that they are willing to support their record scorer in any way possible.

Antoine Griezmann: The best player in MLS?

Griezmann, a World Cup winner with France in 2018, is a major coup for Orlando and MLS as a whole.

The former France international will go to the US and instantly become one of the best players in the league, according to SciSports.

Boasting a Skill of 75.6, which is calculated using hundreds of in-game data points, Griezmann will become the second-best player in MLS.

Surprisingly, it is not Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi that he will trail when he arrives in Florida. Instead, it is veteran Vancouver star Thomas Muller who is regarded as the best player in MLS by the analytics experts with a score of 80.2.

Best Players in MLS - including Griezmann (SciSports)

Rank	Name	Club	Skill
1	Thomas Muller	Vancouver Whitecaps	80.2
2	Antoine Griezmann	Orlando City	75.6
3	Heung-min Son	LAFC	74.1
4	Hirving Lozano	San Diego	70.4
5	Timo Werner	SJ Earthquakes	70.1
6	Lionel Messi	Inter Miami	69.2

Following the German star are former Tottenham attacker Heung-min Son (74.1), Hirving Lozano (70.4) and Timo Werner (70.1) before the 38-year-old Messi arrives next.

The Inter Miami star is not regarded as MLS’s top star by SciSports, but his team certainly is. There are five other stars from David Beckham’s franchise in the top 11 players in the league, and seven in the top 16 players.

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