Express & Star

Antoine Griezmann appears set to announce decision about his future

The 27-year-old has been heavily linked with a 100 million euros move to Barcelona.

Published

Antoine Griezmann appears set to announce on Thursday evening whether or not he will be staying at Atletico Madrid.

The 27-year-old, who has been heavily linked with a 100 million euros move to Barcelona, recently stated he will clarify his future before France’s opening World Cup match against Australia on Saturday.

He confirmed during a national team press conference in Russia on Tuesday that he had made his decision, but that it was “not the time or place to talk about it”.

However, Griezmann is now set to reveal if he will be extending his four-year stay at Atletico or moving on during a programme called ‘The Decision’ being aired on Spanish television at 2115 local time (2015 BST) this evening .

In a 22-second trailer on Movistar’s Twitter account, Griezmann says: “You’ll be fed up of all the talk about if I’m going, if I’m staying, how much they give me, how much they don’t give me.  But the truth is what I’m going to say now…”

The video clip then cuts out before Griezmann reveals any more.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was quick to respond to the teaser, saying in a Tweet in Spanish alongside a popcorn emoji: “To see tonight. LaDecision of @AntoGriezmann on @cero.

The programme’s synopsis on the Movistar website reads: “To stay or to go. Atleti or Barca. Antoine Griezmann faces one of the most important decisions of his career.

“We’ve been with the France striker for two months prior to his decision, just before travelling to Russia to play in the World Cup.

“His thoughts, his doubts, his ‘fears’, his expectations, his dreams, the opinion of his wife, his parents, his brothers… Everything counts in the final decision of Griezmann.”

France v Republic of Ireland – UEFA Euro 2016 – Round of 16 – Stade de Lyon
France star Griezmann was the leading scorer at Euro 2016 (Jonathan Brady/PA)

It is the second successive summer that Griezmann has been the subject of speculation over a big-money switch away from the Rojiblancos.

Last year it was Manchester United who looked to be leading the chase for his services, only for the France international to end up signing a one-year contract extension with Atletico, tying him to the club until 2022.

This year it has been LaLiga champions Barcelona who have emerged as Griezmann’s likeliest destination if he leaves Atletico, although United have continued to be linked with the prolific forward.

Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann, centre, helped Atletico Madrid to victory over Marseille in this year’s Europa League final (Nick Potts/PA)

Since joining from Real Sociedad for a reported £24million in 2014, Griezmann has scored 112 goals in all competitions for Atletico and finished each season as the club’s top scorer.

He also helped Atletico reach the 2016 Champions League final and scored twice as they beat Marseille 3-0 in last month’s Europa League final.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.