Antoine Griezmann will play next season for Orlando City, the great local rival of Messi's Inter Miami. The French player has traveled to the United States to finalize his contract, with the permission of Atletico Madrid. He will finish the season with Simeone's team before heading to MLS, an old aspiration of the Frenchman as an end-of-career project.

"It is my goal. To be there. To finish my career there. To be able to enjoy the league, the other sports leagues that are there, of which I am a big fan. But with the condition of being able to do very well and win things there," said Griezmann three years ago, when rumors were already linking him to the United States.

"Leo is the best in history. He is filling all the stadiums, he is scoring a lot of goals; since he arrived, they are winning games. He is an incredible player. The best thing MLS has done is to bring Leo, for the publicity, for the sporting level and for the image of soccer in the United States. Now, Griezmann arrives to try to discuss Inter Miami's superiority in the championship, from the ranks of its arch-enemy.

What Messi disliked about Griezmann

The relationship between Griezmann and Messi has always been surrounded by suspicions. Much was said about their lack of 'feeling' as teammates at Barcelona, after his arrival at the Catalan club. "I spoke with Messi the day I arrived and he told me that when I rejected the first option to go it screwed him because he had asked for it publicly," Griezmann admitted in an interview with Jorge Valdano.

"Of course I like him. He is one of the best players at the moment. I don't know if there is something with him or not, but we are happy that the best players come to Barcelona, and Antoine Griezmann is one of them," Messi had said, enthusiastic about the possibility of a signing that came late.

In theory, that first reproach remained there and the relationship was from then on friendly, even though Griezmann and Messi are not the most communicative people in the world. "He is not someone who speaks much in person, neither do I, so it is difficult for us to talk to each other," admitted the Frenchman.

Messi's 'revenge' that Griezmann denied

The big friction came after Eric Olhats, Griezmann's former agent, starred in one of the biggest rants against Messi. "Antoine arrived at a club with serious problems where Messi controls everything. He is both emperor and monarch and did not see his arrival in a good light. Last season, when Griezmann arrived, Messi did not speak to him or pass him the ball. He created a real trauma for a more than negative adaptation and something like that must have left its mark. All this was evident and visible," he said.

🗣️ ANTOINE GRIEZMANN: “When I was a Barcelona player, the press used to write every day that Messi was ‘unhappy with me.’ Messi used to tell me: ‘Antoine, don’t pay attention to it. That’s just the press.’
He answered them in every match. On the field he let me take some penalty… pic.twitter.com/G2CYcknhZh

— Mr Wills (@MrWills96) March 20, 2026

🗣️ ANTOINE GRIEZMANN: “When I was a Barcelona player, the press used to write every day that Messi was ‘unhappy with me.’ Messi used to tell me: ‘Antoine, don’t pay attention to it. That’s just the press.’
He answered them in every match. On the field he let me take some penalty… pic.twitter.com/G2CYcknhZh

— Mr Wills (@MrWills96) March 20, 2026

His words put Griezmann in a difficult position in the Barcelona dressing room, and he quickly came forward to clarify that his relationship with him was non-existent, and that he was neither authorised to speak about Messi nor correct about his personal relationship with the Argentine. "Since the day I got married, I have no relationship with Eric Olhats. He was invited to my wedding and at the top table, he didn't come, I'm very angry and I have no relationship with him. He can have an opinion about me like anyone else, but he can do a lot of damage and do damage in a dressing room, but Leo knows that I have a great respect for him, I learn from him," he said.

Luis Suarez, in the middle of the two

L'Equipe even reported that Luis Suarez tried to strengthen the relationship between the two, as the Uruguayan had a good relationship with Griezmann through Godin via the Uruguay national team. But the integration never seemed to be entirely satisfactory, and the trident broke up. Luis Suarez was sold to Atletico, and Griezmann would end up leaving the club in the summer of 2021 along with Messi: the Frenchman went on loan back to Atletico Madrid, who would buy him again, and the Argentine went to PSG. "Few people know what it is like to be Messi, you have been an example for me, in every sense of the word," Griezmann wrote in his farewell to La Pulga. "I'm sure it's not a farewell but a 'see you soon', he wrote prophetically.

Griezmann and Messi met again in the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: Leo was the winner and the Atletico Madrid player was criticised for France's defeat. "It was after he left the field that the French national team managed to come back to score and shake Messi and the others. Against Argentina he made it feel as if the ball was burning his feet," summarised L'Equipe. Now, what burns is the curiosity to see how Griezmann can stand up to Messi's reign in Florida.