Griezmann closer than ever to Barça with final decision soon
Barcelona hope to sign the France forward for 100 million euros
Antoine Griezmann's future could be resolved in the coming weeks if things develop as the France forward hopes. Atletico Madrid will do all they can to hold on to their star player while Barcelona hope all the work they have done will end in the player moving to Camp Nou.
Griezmann has taken advantage of the international break to do an interview with L'Equipe from the France team's base, where they're preparing for games against Colombia and Russia. On his future, he said things "will be decided before the World Cup this summer."
Aware that in the coming months there will be more leaks and information on his future, the attacker confessed that he wants to "travel to Russia without that worry."
The player added: "It's not about knowing where I will play, but having the peace of mind that I will be in one place or another."
For that reason, he said that it "could be boring" but he has told his sister (who looks after his best interests) that whether he stays at Atletico or not, it has to be sorted before the World Cup, which begins in June.
Griezmann's desire will accelerate Atletico's movements to hang on to him, while Barça will look to push the deal through.
In this sense, the newspaper La Razon reports that the Madrid club, through CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, has made Griezmann an offer worth 20 million euros net per year to continue -- an amount that not even coach Diego Simeone is paid.
Diego Costa has also asked Griezmann to stay: "He’s with us now and we want it to remain that way. I would love him to stay, but everyone needs to make their own decisions. For me, that’d be him staying. I reckon he’ll stay with us. He called me to see if I was going to join him at Atleti, he can’t leave me on my own now.”
Despite all that, though, everything suggests Griezmann is closer than every to Barça. He has a contract untl 2022 at Atletico, but the Rojiblanco reduced his release clause to 100 million euros last summer (and increased his salary) to convince him to stay then.
You only have to listen to Griezmann to realise that he's ready to try his hand elsewhere, almost certainly at Barcelona. The sensation is that he's done all he can at Atletico and he's keen to take the next step in his career.
