Atletico's Raul Garcia headed for Athletic Bilbao

"Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of Raul Garcia to our club," Athletic Bilbao said in a statement on their website.

"The definitive agreement between the clubs and the player depends on the player passing a medical and the formalising of the contracts."

Garcia was a key player, scoring 17 goals as Atletico won La Liga and reached the Champions League final in 2013/14.

However, he wasn't expected to feature heavily for Diego Simeone's side this season after the arrivals of Jackson Martinez, Luciano Vietto and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco at the Vicente Calderon during the summer.

The 29-year-old watched Atletico's 3-0 win at Sevilla on Sunday from the stands after being left out of the squad, but was remembered by his teammates as Koke and Gabi celebrated their goals by holding up eight fingers -- Garcia's squad number at Atletico.