Diego Simeone claims Antoine Griezmann is coming of age at Atletico Madrid after his two goals against Rayo Vallecano made him the club’s leading scorer.
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The France international forward was initially slow to settle at the Vicente Calderon following his ¤28m (Dh114m) summer move from Real Sociedad, but he has hit top form in recent weeks and scored twice in the first half to send his team heading towards three points against Rayo.
Griezmann has now netted seven goals in his last four La Liga starts, an outstanding run which started with a hat-trick against Athletic Bilbao in the final game before the Christmas break and has also included a brace in a home win over Levante.
He now has 10 league goals – the joint fifth-highest tally in La Liga and one more than Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. It represents an impressive haul for a player who didn’t score his first league goal for his new club until November, and Simeone was happy to pile praise upon the 23-year-old, who has also netted three goals in cup competitions for Atletico this season.
“We’ve been saying the same thing since November – he has grown a lot and this is the player we need,” said the Argentine. “As well as his goals, I appreciate the hard work he puts in for the team.”
With Mario Mandzukic, Fernando Torres, Raul Garcia and misfit Mexican Raul Jimenez also available for Simeone in attack, the Atletico chief also values Griezmann’s ability to occupy a left wing role as well as a more central position. “He is showing that he can play anywhere across the front line, where he can break open defen-ces with his speed and his talent,” added Simeone.
