In the event that Saúl Ñíguez leaves for Chelsea, Atlético de Madrid will seek the services of Frenchman Griezmann, who passed through the club a few years ago.
On the last day of the transfer market, the likely departure of Saúl Ñíguez to Chelsea has reactivated at Atletico Madrid the option of striker Antoine Griezmann, so the white club-insists on a transfer from Barcelona to make up for the departure of the illicit midfielder.
If Saul leaves the club, as he has insisted in recent months, now with the current European champion as a destination (in the past the possibility of Barcelona was explored), in a negotiation under development and pending completion -la, Atlético has to replace him, because his squad would remain at 20 players if no one arrives.
Barcelona began the last day of the transfer market with a surprising proposal at Atlético de Madrid: an exchange between Antoine Griezmann and Joao Fèlix, in response to the Barça club’s initial intention to incorporate the footballer Portuguese on loan and which was rejected by the mattresses. Several sources close to the operation have confirmed to ESPN Esports Barça’s interest, a situation that Griezmann’s entourage made sure to be officially unaware of without closing the door on any stage.
However, about two months after illuminating a possible exchange operation with Saul that finally did not come further and sentenced the permanence of Griezmann as undisputed at the Camp Nou, the position of the French striker was very much in doubt.
Via Saul was rejected and the formula now sought by Atletico is a transfer for the next year of the French striker.
In this is the Madrid club, because Saul’s departure to Chelsea is only perceived as possible if the white-set has a spare at the same time for him to complete the squad of the current league champions and the competition claim that Simeone wants to have two players in most stops.
At the moment, with Saul, Atlético has 21 players on their team, with the signings of goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte, midfielder Rodrigo de Paul and striker Matheus Cunha and the casualties of Víctor Machín, ‘Vitolo’, Lucas Torreira, Moussa Dembele and Ivo Grbic, with respect to the last campaign that won the League.
“When we prepared a squad, we tried to prepare it as a result of having two players per place,” said Diego Simeone, who abounded last Sunday after the 2-2 draw against Villarreal and before will speed up Saul’s possible departure: “We have the idea of having a compensated staff. To this day we have it that way.” Another issue is with the departure of Saul, who would demand a replacement.
Under the orders of the Argentine coach, Griezmann unleashed his best version, which transformed him into one of the world’s leading players; a status that has declined in the two years he has already accumulated in Barcelona, without the numbers, the goals and, much less, the importance he had in a luster as a mattress.
His continuity at Barça is not officially discussed, but as happened in July, nothing would be ruled out in the last hours of the market.
The French international was the figure of Atlético from 2014-2019; five years in the band of Diego Simeone, with three titles (the Spanish Super Cup 2014, the Europa League 2017-18 and the European Super Cup 2018) and with records that relaunched him to a prestigious position in history of club, frustrated by his own decision to leave for Barcelona in the summer of 2019, just one year after his renewal with the Madrid entity.
When he left the Madrid team, he had played 257 games in five campaigns (from 2014-15, when he arrived from Real Sociedad, until 2018-19), when he went to Barcelona, and with 133 goals -the best scorer in 45 years and the fifth best in the history of the club-, always as the reference in this sense in each of these five campaigns (25 goals in 54 games in 2014-15; 32 to 54 in 2015 -16; 26 to 53 in 2016- 17; 29 to 49 in 2017-18, and 21 to 48 in 2018-19). His 93 league goals meant 97 points for Atletico.
Information from EFE and correspondent Jordi Blanco was used to make this report