Antoine Griezmann bloody loves being at the heart of a good transfer saga
Only a year ago, he went on telly to say there was a good chance of him joining Manchester United, only to have a change of heart when Atletico Madrid were hit with a transfer ban.
Since then, United appear to have dropped out of the running for the French international with Barcelona emerging as his most likely destination some months back.
Griezmann was expected to make an announcement about his future at a press conference earlier this week. In the end, he didn’t, but promised in a video on Thursday – the day the World Cup kicked off – that he’d be revealing what he intended to do with his future in a TV show to be aired later that night.
"Estaréis hartitos por los comentarios que dicen si me voy, si me quedo, cuánto me dan… Pero la verdad es la que voy a decir ahora". #LaDecisión de @antogriezmann, hoy a las 21.15h SÓLO en @cero. pic.twitter.com/lZOb47itC6
— Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarPlus) June 14, 2018
Sure enough, this time he did. Eventually. And surprise, surprise, it turns out Griezmann’s staying put at Atleti after all.
The highlights of the entire programme, named ‘La Decision’, was live-tweeted by AS’s Englisn Twitter site (worth a look if you’re wondering what you might have missed). The main point, however, is this one…
GRIEZMANN IS STAYING!!
— AS USA (@English_AS) June 14, 2018
A tweet from Griezmann himself soon followed the big announcement. It’s all a bit… well, weird.
Mi afición, mi equipo, MI CASA! @atleti 🔴⚪🔴
Mes supporters, mon équipe, MA MAISON ! @AtletiFR 🔴⚪🔴
My fans, my team, MY HOME!!! @atletienglish 🔴⚪🔴 pic.twitter.com/ByD8Cju5Yb
— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) June 14, 2018
Still, at least that one’s put to bed. For another year, at least.
Griezmann, who helped Atleti to Europa League glory last season, is currently with the France squad ahead of their opening World Cup game against Australia on Saturday. Didier Deschamps’ side are amongst the favourites to win the tournament in Russia and will also face group games against Peru and Denmark.
