It took about eight hours inside Antoine Griezmann’s Madrid home for Orlando City sporting director Ricardo Moreira to become convinced the French star was open to moving to the United States one day.According to Moreira, it was the first conversation he had with the Atletico de Madrid attacker.A visit to Spain in July 2025 and an hourslong conversation over coffee began a courtship that would later lead to Orlando City’s first marquee signing since the arrivals of Nani in 2019 and Kaka in the summer of 2014.“He’s obviously a very well-known person in the world, especially in Madrid, so we couldn’t just go to a restaurant or a coffee place or a hotel to talk,” Moreira told WESH 2. “He was kind enough to open the doors of his house and introduce me to his family and to his day-to-day, and we spent a couple hours.”The visit and conversation inside the Griezmann household were captivating, Moreira said. The player embraced both the idea and the project that was presented.The thought of being invited into the home of Griezmann — a 2018 World Cup winner with France who is nearing the end of a legendary career with Atleti — to pitch a move to Central Florida was unexpected, but it happened.“That’s Antoine Griezmann. He’s just a humble guy, a simple guy and a very open and honest guy,” Moreira said. “For him, it’s about what happens on the field. He wants to be in a place where he feels welcomed, where he feels good, and where the family also feels in a good spot. And I think for him, it was a matter of, ‘OK, let me bring this guy to my house, into my most intimate circle,’ so we discussed everything together about how the future is going to be.”For most of his career, Griezmann has publicly expressed an affinity for American culture and sports. Over the years, he has made occasional courtside appearances at NBA games in the United States, and most recently he attended an NFL game at Bernabeu Stadium.His knowledge of Major League Soccer was not much of a surprise, but Moreira said he did not expect Griezmann to be so familiar with Orlando City.“We knew about that, right? … but I was surprised with the knowledge he had of Orlando City, of our roster,” Moreira said. “He knows all the players, he knows the system, he knows the coaches, and he knows the talent that we have. He knows what we have to do to get there and amazingly, he’s a soccer guy. He’s passionate about soccer. He watches soccer every day. He’s a guy that does his homework.”A few more visits to Madrid followed, along with additional contact by phone and Zoom.At one point during that eight-month courtship, Moreira visited Metropolitano Stadium, Atletico Madrid’s home venue, to watch Griezmann play, apart from the usual scouting he had originally planned.But there was not much convincing needed to attract Griezmann to Orlando, considering how much the player already knew about the team, Moreira said.“The job of convincing someone to come has a limit because you don’t want to over-convince someone,” he said. “You want the person as well to meet you halfway and also be willing to come to your club and to join your project, to join the team and to join the idea, and to join the city. So we do our work, we try to convince the player. But again, he met us halfway. He was willing to come. He did his homework. He saw the team, he saw the club, the city, the facilities, this stadium. He saw the future. So he wanted to come as well.”Talks advanced by the start of the 2026 MLS season, and on March 24 Orlando City officially announced Griezmann as its summer signing after the Frenchman traveled to Orlando and signed a deal through the 2027-28 season with an option for the following year.He even wore purple during his brief visit to Inter&Co Stadium, sparking social media buzz that reached 1 million viewers across the team’s platforms.“I am very excited to begin this next chapter of my career with Orlando City,” Griezmann said in the team’s news release. “From my first conversations with the club, I could feel a strong ambition and a clear vision for the future, and that really spoke to me. I look forward to making Orlando my new home, meeting the supporters, feeling the energy at Inter&Co Stadium, and giving everything I have to help the team achieve great things.”Moreira said Griezmann’s signing provides a positive outlook for the Lions. His quality, leadership and technical ability make him a perfect fit for the team’s new cycle of players.“We know his abilities, and we know what he’s capable of, so it was a matter of convincing him to come, which was somewhat easy because he was willing to come to Orlando,” Moreira said. “He was willing to come here and help us compete for championships.”Orlando currently has three designated players — Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic and Braian Ojeda — but Moreira said the team plans to buy down one player with allocation money this summer, adding that Griezmann will likely join Martin Ojeda and Pasalic as the club’s three designated players.No additional moves are expected before the MLS primary transfer window closes March 26, but the Lions could be active again in the summer.“We’re already working for the summer, and we’re gonna naturally probably see some moves in the summer transfer window,” he said.Whether the Lions will have a full-time coach by the time Griezmann arrives remains unclear, but the team will enter an evaluation period in the coming months to address the full-time coaching vacancy before his arrival.“After moving on from such a historic coach as Oscar Pareja, we need time to rebuild the day-to-day, to rebuild the training cycles, to rebuild our strategy, to rebuild our structure,” Moreira said. “That takes time. Obviously we’re going to have a big break during the World Cup, and it’s going to give time to the head coach of Orlando City to prepare for the second part of the season with Antoine.”Mike Gramajo is an Assignment Editor and Sportswriter at WESH 2, who has covered the Orlando soccer scene since 2012. You can follow his coverage over on X and Instagram.
It took about eight hours inside Antoine Griezmann’s Madrid home for Orlando City sporting director Ricardo Moreira to become convinced the French star was open to moving to the United States one day.
According to Moreira, it was the first conversation he had with the Atletico de Madrid attacker.
A visit to Spain in July 2025 and an hourslong conversation over coffee began a courtship that would later lead to Orlando City’s first marquee signing since the arrivals of Nani in 2019 and Kaka in the summer of 2014.
“He’s obviously a very well-known person in the world, especially in Madrid, so we couldn’t just go to a restaurant or a coffee place or a hotel to talk,” Moreira told WESH 2. “He was kind enough to open the doors of his house and introduce me to his family and to his day-to-day, and we spent a couple hours.”
The visit and conversation inside the Griezmann household were captivating, Moreira said. The player embraced both the idea and the project that was presented.
The thought of being invited into the home of Griezmann — a 2018 World Cup winner with France who is nearing the end of a legendary career with Atleti — to pitch a move to Central Florida was unexpected, but it happened.
“That’s Antoine Griezmann. He’s just a humble guy, a simple guy and a very open and honest guy,” Moreira said. “For him, it’s about what happens on the field. He wants to be in a place where he feels welcomed, where he feels good, and where the family also feels in a good spot. And I think for him, it was a matter of, ‘OK, let me bring this guy to my house, into my most intimate circle,’ so we discussed everything together about how the future is going to be.”
For most of his career, Griezmann has publicly expressed an affinity for American culture and sports. Over the years, he has made occasional courtside appearances at NBA games in the United States, and most recently he attended an NFL game at Bernabeu Stadium.
His knowledge of Major League Soccer was not much of a surprise, but Moreira said he did not expect Griezmann to be so familiar with Orlando City.
“We knew about that, right? … but I was surprised with the knowledge he had of Orlando City, of our roster,” Moreira said. “He knows all the players, he knows the system, he knows the coaches, and he knows the talent that we have. He knows what we have to do to get there and amazingly, he’s a soccer guy. He’s passionate about soccer. He watches soccer every day. He’s a guy that does his homework.”
A few more visits to Madrid followed, along with additional contact by phone and Zoom.
At one point during that eight-month courtship, Moreira visited Metropolitano Stadium, Atletico Madrid’s home venue, to watch Griezmann play, apart from the usual scouting he had originally planned.
But there was not much convincing needed to attract Griezmann to Orlando, considering how much the player already knew about the team, Moreira said.
“The job of convincing someone to come has a limit because you don’t want to over-convince someone,” he said. “You want the person as well to meet you halfway and also be willing to come to your club and to join your project, to join the team and to join the idea, and to join the city. So we do our work, we try to convince the player. But again, he met us halfway. He was willing to come. He did his homework. He saw the team, he saw the club, the city, the facilities, this stadium. He saw the future. So he wanted to come as well.”
Talks advanced by the start of the 2026 MLS season, and on March 24 Orlando City officially announced Griezmann as its summer signing after the Frenchman traveled to Orlando and signed a deal through the 2027-28 season with an option for the following year.
He even wore purple during his brief visit to Inter&Co Stadium, sparking social media buzz that reached 1 million viewers across the team’s platforms.
“I am very excited to begin this next chapter of my career with Orlando City,” Griezmann said in the team’s news release. “From my first conversations with the club, I could feel a strong ambition and a clear vision for the future, and that really spoke to me. I look forward to making Orlando my new home, meeting the supporters, feeling the energy at Inter&Co Stadium, and giving everything I have to help the team achieve great things.”
Moreira said Griezmann’s signing provides a positive outlook for the Lions. His quality, leadership and technical ability make him a perfect fit for the team’s new cycle of players.
“We know his abilities, and we know what he’s capable of, so it was a matter of convincing him to come, which was somewhat easy because he was willing to come to Orlando,” Moreira said. “He was willing to come here and help us compete for championships.”
Orlando currently has three designated players — Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic and Braian Ojeda — but Moreira said the team plans to buy down one player with allocation money this summer, adding that Griezmann will likely join Martin Ojeda and Pasalic as the club’s three designated players.
No additional moves are expected before the MLS primary transfer window closes March 26, but the Lions could be active again in the summer.
“We’re already working for the summer, and we’re gonna naturally probably see some moves in the summer transfer window,” he said.
Whether the Lions will have a full-time coach by the time Griezmann arrives remains unclear, but the team will enter an evaluation period in the coming months to address the full-time coaching vacancy before his arrival.
“After moving on from such a historic coach as Oscar Pareja, we need time to rebuild the day-to-day, to rebuild the training cycles, to rebuild our strategy, to rebuild our structure,” Moreira said. “That takes time. Obviously we’re going to have a big break during the World Cup, and it’s going to give time to the head coach of Orlando City to prepare for the second part of the season with Antoine.”
Mike Gramajo is an Assignment Editor and Sportswriter at WESH 2, who has covered the Orlando soccer scene since 2012. You can follow his coverage over on X and Instagram.