France head coach Didier Deschamps has praised Antoine Griezmann following his decision to stay at Atletico Madrid, according to Sport.
France start their World Cup 2018 finals campaign but the pre-match build-up was dominated by the news that Griezmann pledged his future to Atletico Madrid, after making the announcement in a television documentary called ‘La Decision’, as per BBC Sport.
The French talisman was strongly linked with a move to Barcelona and opted to reveal his decision in an elaborate video message that lasted nearly 30 minutes as he announced that he would be staying at Atleti, despite rejecting interest from Barcelona, as per Sky Sports.
And France head coach Deschamps has heralded his choice and praised his loyalty to stay with the Europa League champions.
“There are two things that stay with me from Antoine’s decision: his loyalty to Atletico Madrid and the fact it’s now a weight off him before the World Cup. And that’s a positive for us,” Deschamps said in a press conference, as per Sport.
He added: “I’m speaking about the decision being made, not the way it was made. A lot of people gave a lot of importance to that, but like I said before, it’s good news for his club, the loyalty he’s shown, and for us, because he goes to the World Cup without any worries.”
With the preliminary agreement to sign Thomas Lemar according to the BBC, coupled with Griezmann’s intention to stay, Atleti will look to challenge La Liga’s duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid once again.
Griezmann scored 29 times for Diego Simeone’s side last season and put in a man of the match performance in the Europa League final to secure his first title.