Antoine Griezmann Included Among 4 New Atletico Madrid Captains for 2018/19 Season
Atletico Madrid have announced the four players who will succeed Gabi as captain of Los Rojiblancos.
After seven years and nearly 350 appearances for the club, Gabi left to join Qatari side Al Sadd, where his fellow Spaniard and former Barcelona midfielder Xavi plays his club football.
Atletico have revealed the four men who will share the armband in his stead: Diego Godin, Koke, Antoine Griezmann and Juanfran. "Gabi, as you can see, you have sensational successors," they wrote on Twitter.
The most controversial of these is Griezmann, who came close to leaving the club for Barcelona earlier this summer before deciding to remain at the Wanda Metropolitano.
A more popular choice will be Godin, who will officially take the role of primary captain, although the system is flexible. His loyalty to the club has never wavered and he spoke about the honour of taking the armband at the club where he has played since 2010.
"What I feel when I wear the captain’s armband is happiness and pride," he said, quoted by Atletico's website. "It's a huge responsibility."
Juanfran has been at the club for nearly as long, having made his debut in 2011 after joining from Osasuna.
VI-Images/GettyImages
Completing the set is Koke, who is a rare thing in modern football: a one-club man. He has been at Atletico since the age of eight and will be another popular choice among the club's supporters.
Between the four of them they have made over 1255 appearances for Atletico Madrid, so Diego Simeone's team certainly won't want for leadership this season.
This fluid captaincy system is also being employed by Barcelona following the departure of Andres Iniesta, with Lionel Messi named as one of four captains for this coming season.
