Chelsea‘s hopes of signing Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann have been dealt a major blow, according to the Mirror.
The Liga BBVA heavyweights—along with their fierce city rivals Real Madrid—were handed sanctions by Fifa on Thursday after irregular transfer dealings [as per BBC Sport]. The punishments were given to the pair after misdemeanours emerged in deals concerning youth players and, as a result, neither of the duo will be allowed to register new players for the next two transfer windows.
Practically, this means that the Madrid pair will only be able to use their existing players or promote from within until the 2017-18 season.
With Atletico unable to bring in reinforcements, the Mirror [as above] insist that Los Colchoneros will be “even more determined” to keep hold of Chelsea transfer target Griezmann.
Indeed, the tabloid note that the Spanish giants are so keen to keep hold of the French international that they have begun discussions with the attacker on a new two-year extension to his current deal, which would keep him to the club until 2020 and likely discourage the reigning EPL champions from considering his dossier.
In light of their transfer ban, Atletico would sorely struggle to replace the former Real Sociedad man’s impact should he be allowed to leave. Griezmann managed 22 goals in 37 appearances in the Spanish top flight last season (behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo), and has already bagged 10 in 19 so far this term.
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