Official: Atletico Madrid sign Moussa Dembele from Lyon

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Atletico Madrid have completed the signing of Moussa Dembele from Lyon initially on loan with the option to buy in the summer for €33m.

Diego Simeone had been in the hunt for a new centre-forward this January following the departure of Diego Costa, with the Argentine looking to add more firepower to his front line and competition for Luis Suarez and Joao Felix.

The 24-year-old started his career within the youth ranks of PSG before transferring to Fulham at the age of just 16.

It was after Dembele’s move to Celtic from Fulham that people truly began to take notice, though, as he excelled for the Scottish champions in his short period with the club, most notably scoring a marvellous overhead kick against Man City in the Champions League.

The Frenchman would help the Hoops side to a historic two consecutive trebles before his £19.7 million (€22m) transfer to Lyon in August of 2018.

Snapshot: Moussa Dembele

In the 2018/19 season he scored 15 goals in 21 starts in Ligue 1, and followed that up with 16 goals in 24 starts the following season in 2019/20.

However, in the current campaign he has struggled for form, only scoring once in 16 appearances in the French top flight.

That hasn’t put Atletico off his talents, though, with him looking more likely than not to end up at the Wanda Metropolitano this month.

Dembele joins Atletico at an exciting time, as Simeone’s charges are currently top of La Liga, four points ahead of second place with two games in hand. They have put themselves in the most promising position to win the league since the last time they done so in the 2013/14 campaign.

The Spanish side were not believed to be the only suitors for Dembele, however, with Man Utd one of the teams reportedly holding an interest in the player before his move to the capital.