Barcelona are reportedly edging ever closer to announcing the signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid this summer.
The 28-year-old confirmed his intention to leave Atleti last month through their official social media channels, ending a five-year stint with the club.
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During his time with Diego Simeone’s side, he bagged 133 goals in 257 appearances, helping them to a Europa League success along with a UEFA Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup.
However, it appears as though he’s ready to take that next step and compete for major honours moving forward by making the switch to Barcelona.
According to Mundo Deportivo, his lawyer arrived at the headquarters of the Spanish FA on Friday afternoon to pay the €120m from Barcelona to activate his release clause with Atleti.
In turn, it’s added that once the documentation is filed, the Catalan giants will be expected to make the move official and will add another marquee name to coach Ernesto Valverde’s starting XI, with a presentation expected this weekend before Griezmann joins his new teammates for pre-season preparations on Monday.
It will be intriguing to see how the World Cup winner settles in at the Nou Camp and adapts to Barca’s style of play, while it will be equally as fascinating to see how Valverde fits his superstars into one starting line-up.
The expectation will perhaps be that Griezmann partners Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi in an attacking trident, but that leaves it unclear as to what it means for the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele.
Nevertheless, given the opportunity to land another marquee name, Barcelona appear set to wrap up a deal and although they successfully defended their La Liga crown last season, the manner of their Champions League exit and Copa del Rey final loss will have left fans demanding for improvements and reinforcements.
In Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong, they have two world-class players joining their push for trophies, assuming the former has his move announced as expected.
