Sports Nicknames - Le Petit Prince

Antoine Griezmann has had one of the most interesting past decades in La Liga. The French footballer has moved between 3 different Spanish clubs. Despite this, he has continued to score goals and provide assists. Because of his relationship to famous writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Griezmann has gained a nickname based on one of the literary works: Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince).



Griezmann started his career at Real Sociedad, playing in the first team of the Basque club for 5 years. Such individual success earned him a move to one of La Liga's largest clubs in Atletico Madrid. His career really took off in the red and white, scoring goals in the league and Europe for the club. He helped the club to the Champions League final in 2016, though they lost to rivals Real Madrid. He did manage to help the club to the Europa League trophy in 2018.

After this success, Griezmann would play one final season with Atleti before making a huge switch to rivals Barcelona. There was some controversy as Atletico claimed that Barcelona didn't pay enough to trigger Griezmann's release clause, with many Atleti fans defacing Griezmann plaques and jerseys. While he has yet to win any trophies with Barcelona, the same is not true with the French national team. He was an important part of the team that dominated the 2018 World Cup, while he also came 2nd in the 2016 European Championships.

Despite coming 3rd in the Ballon d'Or competition in both 2016 and 2018, some see Griezmann as not having fulfilled his potential. With rumours of Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona in upcoming years, it remains to be seen if Griezmann can step up and fill such a hole.

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Antoine Griezmann is currently playing for Atletico Madrid (again).

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