Antoine Griezmann Tells Atletico Madrid He Wants To Leave
REUTERS/Javier Barbancho
Long-term Manchester United target Antoine Griezmann has told his club, Atletico Madrid, that he wishes to leave, according to reports from Spain.
Griezmann had been linked with a move out of the club long before the transfer season started, and these new reports only confirm the suspicion.
The Frenchman has been linked with moves all around Europe, at major footballing clubs, but according to club correspondent Antonio Ruiz, Griezmann has come to a conclusion about his own future, and has let the club know about the preferred change in summer.
ATLÉTICO DE MADRID | @RuizAntonito: "Griezmann le ha transmitido a la zona noble del club que quiere salir".
— Deportes Cope (@deportescope) May 30, 2017
The tweet is in Spanish and can be translated to: “Griezmann has told the higher ups of the club that he wants to leave.”
This would mean good news for Ed Woodward, who is managing United’s transfer targets as Mourinho takes a break back home at Portugal.
Among other clubs intending to make a move for the striker was Real Madrid, but their rivalry would have played a major role in deterring the player’s move.
It was earlier understood that Griezmann would stay another season and play at the new stadium, but it seems otherwise now, as he seems to accelerate his move away from the club.
Even so, Atletico will be reluctant at the very least, to let him go, and Manchester United may have to trigger the buy-out clause, which means a bid of over €100 million.
Further complicating the entire situation is the FIFA-imposed sanction on signing any new players for the entirety of the upcoming season.
The high valued move could also mean the club would have to pay up to 20% of the amount to the striker’s ex-club- Real Sociedad.
For a club known to make finish-quality strikers out of unpolished diamonds, there are multiple choices for Simeone to choose from. Manchester City’s Nolito and Sevilla attacker Vitolo are the most promising opportunities for the same position. Even so, retaining their star player is of the utmost priority for them.
With an almost aura of certainty that the talismanic striker would choose Manchester United as his second decision, the only question remains – Will he be able to survive the Premier League? Let’s find out!
Written by Srivats Venkateswaran 
Sports writer with a long experience of writing in football.Was football team head at EssentiallySports. Still deeply misses Sir Alex and Berbatov at United. An introvert at heart with a poetic hand. Engineer by choice, writer by passion.