Atletico Madrid and France forward Antoine Griezmann kept everyone guessing on Tuesday as he remained coy over his club future.
As noted by Sky Sports, the 27-year-old addressed the media and admitted that he has made a decision but wouldn’t clarify as to whether that involved remaining at the Wanda Metropolitano or moving elsewhere later this summer.
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With the World Cup set to get underway on Thursday, and with France facing Australia in their opening game on Saturday, the last thing that the camp need is the distraction over their talisman’s future.
However, that appears to be the case after he refused to confirm his decision, but reports in Spain claim that there is a reason behind why he hasn’t come forward openly with his choice just yet.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Griezmann is set to join Barcelona this summer, but because his release clause remains €200m until July 1, no such announcement of his move will be made prior to that date, after which his clause will drop down to €100m and at that point the Catalan giants will pay the fee.
Further, it’s suggested that if he did intend on staying at Atleti, then there would have been nothing standing in the way of him just confirming it on Tuesday in the press conference seen below.
In a separate post, Mundo Deportivo add that Barcelona remain ‘satisfied’ with the press conference and that they will secure the signing of Griezmann eventually, but no key developments are expected until July 1.
Griezmann is coming off the back of a season in which he led Atleti to second place in La Liga as well as winning the Europa League.
Whether remaining as the face of the club to push on for more silverware moving forward is enough to convince him to stay in the capital remains to be seen, but the reports above would suggest that he’s set to join Barcelona instead.
That would present its own question marks, as with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho already at the Nou Camp, it’s unclear as to how coach Ernesto Valverde would fit them all in or be able to keep them happy by rotating.