Man Utd will reportedly have to spend £155m in total to sign Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid, including satisfying his hefty contract demands.
The French international has emerged as Jose Mourinho’s top target this summer, as per speculation, as he continues to establish himself as one of the leading stars in Europe with his displays for Atleti.
Ahead of the Champions League semi-finals, the 26-year-old has scored 25 goals and provided 11 assists in 48 appearances in all competitions, while he’s regularly been linked with a move to Man Utd this summer.
As per The Daily Mail, it will prove to be a very expensive transaction for the Premier League giants if they are able to complete a deal, as the transfer fee combined with what they’re touted to spend on wages across his deal will amount to a staggering £155m in total.
It’s claimed that Griezmann would command wages just short of £300,000-a-week, which in turn would make him the best paid player in the Premier League.
With the Mail suggesting that he would sign a five-year deal, that’s £77m over five years and combine that with the £76m transfer fee required to prise him away from the Spanish capital and United are staring at a very expensive bit of business.
While they’ve shown with the signing of Paul Pogba last summer that they have the financial power to make these moves happen, it’s added that the expected departure of Wayne Rooney this summer with his £290,000-a-week salary will naturally free up money and give them more flexibility with regards to Griezmann.
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic also potentially having played his last game for Man Utd following that devastating knee injury with his contract set to expire this summer, then the club are removing some big numbers off the wage bill already which would make the Griezmann signing more plausible.