In what has been a relatively frustrating transfer window for Manchester united so far, perhaps the biggest blow suffered was delivered by Antoine Griezmann and his contract extension with Atletico Madrid. The Frenchman certainly looked destined for United as following their Champions League qualification, the deal on paper undoubtedly looked a perfect fitting for both parties involved.
Although no official bid was exclusively reported, the interest expressed by the reds was perhaps one of the worst kept secrets of the Summer. The potential deal certainly excited fans, as the prospect of the 2016 third placed Balon d’Or winner joining Old Trafford was no doubt a mouth watering prospect and would have provided as the perfect fit in a rather depleted current attacking line.
However following the news regarding Atletico’s transfer ban, in which any they player they do sign will not be available until January 2018, Greizmann decided to stay at the club in which he signed a new four year deal. Although to some extent, this all but rules out a move for the Frenchman this year from United’s perspective, Greizmann has continued to leave hints suggesting that he would be interested with a move in the near future.
Speaking in a recent interview (to FourFourTwo), Greizmann refused to rule out a future move stating,
“To be honest, I don’t know. I’m going to be playing for Atletico next season and after that we’ll see. All I am thinking about now is Atletico Madrid. I think it’s absurd to talk about something that is more than a year away.”
Despite it looking like United will not be getting their number one summer target, fans were at least relived that the Griezmann saga was put to bed early and of course meant that we weren’t in for a Paul Pogba deal 2.0. However, it does seem that the Griezmann story is yet to be finished and this will certainly not be the last time that we hear United and the French striker being mentioned in the same sentence. The deal would surely have been completed had it not had been for Atletico’s transfer ban and Griezmann’s continuous teasing to United fans may well foreshadow a deal come next year.
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