Antoine Griezmann| Catalunya Radio say Griezmann to Barcelona is done for €100m

Status
Not open for further replies.
Chairman Woodie said:
I didn't say Greizmann was like Mata and Mikhitaryan. Indeed, Mata and Mikhitaryan differ from each other too. I was using trequartista as an umbrella term.

United don't need Greizmann for goals having just spend £75m to £90m on Lukaku. It's a matter of supplying Lukaku, and the midfield contributing goals to supplement his tally.
Click to expand...

Regardless of their playstyle both Mata and Mkhitryan are playmakers by trade, Griezmann is not. Also saying we don't need goals because we bought Lukaku but then saying we need more goals from other areas of the pitch makes no sense. We absolutely do need more goals, signing one of the World's best finishers will help us in that regard.

Claiming we shouldn't get Griezmann because of Mata and Mkhitryan is similar to claiming that Mahrez is the same sort of player to them both too. Just because they can occupy the same positions doesn't mean they don't offer things the other players don't.

Besides - Griezmann is no slouch in the playmaking aspect, he'd be working both off and with Lukaku, feeding balls into him and running onto balls from Lukaku as well. He'd be an immense signing for us and would replace Mata in the team.
 
Won't happen in January, it'll be summer I guess. Also I think they will get Costa in January I guess.
 
Womp said:
He'd be an immense signing for us and would replace Mata in the team.
Click to expand...

I'd still keep Mata in the team and keep playing him wide in rotation with mkh. It's lingard who has to step up to the next level now to be at United level.
 
If he does hit the market next summer, one would hope that United would be the front runner of English teams to sign him.
Would City not be sniffing him? Chelsea? Arsenal(laughs)?
Is there any evidence that he truly favors MUFC?
Would PSG be a temptation for him being a french international?
Would a move to Barcelona make sense for him? Does the fee for dembele move make this unlikely? Poor fit for Barca?
Is a move to Real Madrid out of the question due to the rivalry? Surely Madrid would pay this fee?
It will be interesting to see what kind of season he has and how it affects his value.
I will be watching him closely this season. Given the saga this summer, I will not allow myself to get excited about him coming to United, and a January transfer to United seems like a pipe dream.
 
Chairman Woodie said:
I didn't say Greizmann was like Mata and Mikhitaryan. Indeed, Mata and Mikhitaryan differ from each other too. I was using trequartista as an umbrella term.

United don't need Greizmann for goals having just spend £75m to £90m on Lukaku. It's a matter of supplying Lukaku, and the midfield contributing goals to supplement his tally.
Click to expand...

How many teams do you know that rely on only one goalscorer? Most teams look to have 2-3 players who'll score 15+ goals a season.

Spurs have Alli and Kane. Liverpool have Mane, Firmino and Salah. Chelsea have Morata (formerly Costa) and Hazard.

The biggest hole in our squad is a goalscoring attacker. I'm hopeful both Rashford and Martial can improve in this regard, but in the next 18 months can I see them improving enough to score a similar amount to say Alli? Probably not.

Griezmann on the other hand probably guarantees you 20 goals.
 
Where does he play if we get him? He isn't a winger so putting one of the best forwards in the game outwide is waste and I'm tired of seeing Strikers and 10's shoehorned onto the wing. You could play him off Lukaku but I think Mkhitaryan is an excellent 10 and his output would be immense if we let him play there for the season (already on 5 assists) and he isn't that good on the wings. If we were continuing with Mkhitaryan on the right then this signing would make more sense but I think we'd be better served with an actual right winger rather than playing Griez out of position or shifting Mkhi out wide.

At any rate he had his chance and he chose to continue finishing behind Madrid and Barca, yeah it was loyal and admirable but why should I care about his loyalty to Atletico? Would be desperate to go back in for a player who already turned us down.
 
Hawks2008 said:
Where does he play if we get him? He isn't a winger so putting one of the best forwards in the game outwide is waste and I'm tired of seeing Strikers and 10's shoehorned onto the wing. You could play him off Lukaku but I think Mkhitaryan is an excellent 10 and his output would be immense if we let him play there for the season (already on 5 assists) and he isn't that good on the wings. If we were continuing with Mkhitaryan on the right then this signing would make more sense but I think we'd be better served with an actual right winger rather than playing Griez out of position or shifting Mkhi out wide.

At any rate he had his chance and he chose to continue finishing behind Madrid and Barca, yeah it was loyal and admirable but why should I care about his loyalty to Atletico? Would be desperate to go back in for a player who already turned us down.
Click to expand...

> no.10/CAM/SS aka Mikhi's current spot. And RW buy someone or play Marcus/Mikhi there not the biggest of problems. Fact of the matter is here's a chance to add a world class player and a consensus top10 player in he world. Anyone who chooses to pass on such talent is a fool. AG is an upgrade on Mikhi and would give us more depth with Mikhi being used as super sub or out wide similarly to Mata. Kinda unfortunate Mikhi loses the spot he's showing promise in but it's just 3 games in, far from cemented in stone as his consistency which has been his main issue since arriving to United. And like many and myself have said hundreds of times already on this forum, there's nothing saying we can't get AG and a RWer.


@ the bolded, come back down to earth. Everyone and their dog knew AG was on his way to United but genuinely delayed the move due to Atletico's sanctions. You're truly delusional and hypocritical if that's what you think because you'd be the first one to applaud one of our own if the same circumstance arose regarding United. It's called loyalty; this day and age in modern day football to see that rare trait in a player, idk how anyone can hate on that.

Btw he didn't "turn us down", he simply prolonged his inevitable move. There's no way he stays at Atletico so stop spinning it as if he rejected United. If that's the case then he rejected all teams so does that mean Barca and teams x,y,z should take it as personally as you are? Absolutely not and it's why you're not in charge of the club. United aren't stupidly narrow minded enough to write him off and will undoubtedly go back and push very hard to acquire him for this very reason. They understand the circumstance. And if anything the non-move helped both parties involved (United+Griezmann). Allowed United to spend the AG $ on Lukaku who we wouldn't been able to get otherwise and it's led to the stabilization of the team, something which should go a long ways for when *knocks on wood* AG decides to come here. Prior to the start of the season there was a lot of uncertainty as we all know from the previous year and all the years of having a revolving door at nearly every position since SAFs departure. José has finally built a core and many of those revolving doors have already disappeared. I'm sure AG had his doubts of joining with United in a transition phase but now they're surely gone seeing how United have played with the additions of Lukaku and co...we're finally out of the gutter/rebuilding phase and onto the contending stages. How can Griezmann not like the thought of that and a core which he would grow with? Thanks to the transfer ban a lot of that uncertainty has gone away so it's definitely a win-win in that sense.
 
I'm not sure why everyone thinks this is nailed on. He will have other options next summer and José may change his priorities after another full season. A lot can happen including him deciding to stay at Athletico. If people are putting their hope in this happening there could be dissapointment next year. I'd say as things stand it looks possible but as I said a lot will happen between now and next summer.
 
Hawks2008 said:
Where does he play if we get him? He isn't a winger so putting one of the best forwards in the game outwide is waste and I'm tired of seeing Strikers and 10's shoehorned onto the wing. You could play him off Lukaku but I think Mkhitaryan is an excellent 10 and his output would be immense if we let him play there for the season (already on 5 assists) and he isn't that good on the wings. If we were continuing with Mkhitaryan on the right then this signing would make more sense but I think we'd be better served with an actual right winger rather than playing Griez out of position or shifting Mkhi out wide.

At any rate he had his chance and he chose to continue finishing behind Madrid and Barca, yeah it was loyal and admirable but why should I care about his loyalty to Atletico? Would be desperate to go back in for a player who already turned us down.
Click to expand...
I think he'd be more than capable of playing as a right-wide-attacker if we play more narrow and find the right full-backs to give us width. As shown by our pursuit of Perisic, finding a out and out winger in today's market is very difficult, as most high-end teams are relying more and more on their full-backs to provide width. Long-term, a 4 man rotation for the 3 attacking midfielder roles (or however you want to label the 3 attackers behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1) of Mikhi, Griezman, Martial and Rashford provides plenty of game time for all, especially if after Ibra we occasionally deploy Martial or Rashford as the #9 in Lukaku's absence. We tend to play with inverted wingers/wide-forwards who cut in, so having a quick, smart player who is elite with his off the ball movement on the left would make us much more dynamic. It also allows for a lot of interchanging and fluid offensive play from the attacking front 4.

Griezmann, in my opinion, is an absolute must-buy and you fit the players who can compliment him. So, if this transfer is a go, we need to find a long-term replacement for Valencia who offers speed, and crossing down the byline. Hopefully Shaw develops, but similarly, we need to find a player who can do that from the left. While long-term we may be trading some defensive ability for these traits in a full-back, in tougher matches we can shift to a more defensive 4-3-3 set up, dropping one of the 4 attackers (most likely Mikhi) and put an extra body in midfield such as Herrera, or even play with some like Fosu-Mensah next to Matic. While Griezmann, may not be perfect out there, he should easily be able to fit into a successful formation and provide a lot of attacking talent.
 
If he wants to come and we do not sign him, that is almost amount to gross negligence by itself. Punishable by the harshest punishment out there.
 
TonyTheYank said:
If he does hit the market next summer, one would hope that United would be the front runner of English teams to sign him.
Would City not be sniffing him? Chelsea? Arsenal(laughs)?
Is there any evidence that he truly favors MUFC?
Would PSG be a temptation for him being a french international?
Would a move to Barcelona make sense for him? Does the fee for dembele move make this unlikely? Poor fit for Barca?
Is a move to Real Madrid out of the question due to the rivalry? Surely Madrid would pay this fee?
It will be interesting to see what kind of season he has and how it affects his value.
I will be watching him closely this season. Given the saga this summer, I will not allow myself to get excited about him coming to United, and a January transfer to United seems like a pipe dream.
Click to expand...
His former agent already has said that the transfer ban was the only thing that stopped him joining United so I believe we would still remain a viable option for him in January / Summer.

i don't see why January is a pipe dream, Griezmann did Atletico a huge favour by staying and they will be able to sign replacements in January (Costa coming for example) so may already have an agreement that they will not hold him back (they even only increased his buy out clause for this summer which i believe is telling). From United's perspective, he would be CL cup tied but winning the CL is not a priority, a concerted PL title push is the aim and bringing in Griezmann with Zlatan returning would be a huge boost for the second half of the season.
 
Love the way posters are telling us about all these clubs coming in for him as if they all didn't approach him last year.
Did you somehow think we had a free run at him this summer?
 
All this talk about us not needing him anymore :wenger:

He's much better than anyone we have got in attack, those who peg him as a second striker who reacts to knock downs and second balls to score his goals are doing him a huge disservice. He's evolved into a fine play-maker and will create lots of chances if played through the middle. Can't think of a more perfect player to play just off Lukaku. In a post Neymar world, €100 million is a bargain for a player of his ability. Would take us to the next level.
 
I think signing him in January is a possibility, it could be accelerated if Diego Costa rejoins Athletico during January too.
 
Raoul said:
He isn't nailed on to join them. They can buy just about anyone they want and may opt for different player.
Click to expand...

A proven la liga goal scorer isn't someone they want?

Macern said:
Griezmann is a boyhood United fan. His idol was Beckham and the #7 shirt is available. His mate Pogba is here and I'm sure 'uncle Pat' has told him everything about the club. His brother will try to influence him to join United. He'll be the main man in United's attack. Why would he choose to play second fiddle in a declining Barca and earning less money than at United?
Click to expand...

He's not a boyhood United fan. He adores beckham. There's a difference. He loves playing in Spain and Barcelona will offer him a chit load of money as well.
 
Ronaldo's Mum Eh? said:
A proven la liga goal scorer isn't someone they want?



He's not a boyhood United fan. He adores beckham. There's a difference. He loves playing in Spain and Barcelona will offer him a chit load of money as well.
Click to expand...
How do you know he isn't a boyhood United fan but somehow you know he loves playing in spain?
 
Macern said:
How do you know he isn't a boyhood United fan but somehow you know he loves playing in spain?
Click to expand...


He said it himself numerous times. He would prefer to stay in Spain.

Edit: And his boyhood clubs are Lyon and Marseille.
 
JPRouve said:
He said it himself numerous times. He would prefer to stay in Spain.

Edit: And his boyhood clubs are Lyon and Marseille.
Click to expand...
What else can he say whilst playing in spain?

Lyon and Marseille are uncontroversial clubs to support publically. As I've said It'd be unwise for any professional player to be public about supporting one of the big clubs.
 
Macern said:
What else can he say whilst playing in spain?

Lyon and Marseille are uncontroversial clubs to support publically. As I've said It'd be unwise for any professional player to be public about supporting one of the big clubs.
Click to expand...

For a french player, they are very controversial and it's something that he said to french media. But I see that you are willing to make up things instead of just accepting a player's words, so there is no point arguing.
 
I wouldn't go around believing Antoine too much as he's on record admitting he was a madridista (sp) growing up.
Its safe to assume he wanted Utd to win while watching his idol play. If he isn't a fan then he has a huge soft spot for us
 
cyberman said:
I wouldn't go around believing Antoine too much as he's on record admitting he was a madridista (sp) growing up.
Its safe to assume he wanted Utd to win while watching his idol play. If he isn't a fan then he has a huge soft spot for us
Click to expand...

You are right about that, he mentioned Elber as one of his favorite players growing up, he added Beckham and other players. He probably doesn't support any club.
 
JPRouve said:
For a french player, they are very controversial and it's something that he said to french media. But I see that you are willing to make up things instead of just accepting a player's words, so there is no point arguing.
Click to expand...
:confused:

But yeah this is a pointless discussion
 
Why do people care who he supports? Sterling & Terry both supported United and played for our biggest rivals, Roy Keane was a Spurs supporter. Players have more to consider than their childhood loyalty such as where they will get the best chance to improve, excel, make money and win medals.
 
abhayselvan said:
But did Ronaldo say that Madrid was his dream club before 2008? He said that only after they started pursuing him I think.
Click to expand...
Didn't Fergie say when he sold him that he always knew he wanted to go to Madrid so he was aware of it from the start. Another example Frank kessie said this summer it's his dream to play for Utd and he's at another club
 
He'd most likely move in the summer, but i'd try to sign him ASAP. As soon as that release clause drops, everyone will want a piece. I expect to see him in a Barcelona shirt tbh.
 
I think there is a big possibility Barca highjack this unfortunately.

I also think this is the only realistic chance of us bringing in a World class attacker in the next 12 months.

I don't believe that our board would pay the current going rates of £150m+ and mega wages for elite players. It would have to be something exceptional for that to happen, e.g. An 18 year old Rooney.
 
KingMinger22 said:
I think there is a big possibility Barca highjack this unfortunately.

I also think this is the only realistic chance of us bringing in a World class attacker in the next 12 months.

I don't believe that our board would pay the current going rates of £150m+ and mega wages for elite players. It would have to be something exceptional for that to happen, e.g. An 18 year old Rooney.
Click to expand...
Hijack this to play him where? They've already replaced Neymar with Dembele.
 
I heard that Barcelona cannot activate his £94m release clause. Is it true?

Anyway, I don't think they will be in for him. Striker is not something they badly need at this point with Suarez and Messi on board.
 
Macern said:
Why are so many on this forum inherently pessimistic?
Click to expand...

Because negativity draws attention and being pessimistic is the easiest way to get recognized on the internet. Positivity takes a bit more testicular fortitude.
 
Jose's final comment on that times interview about not waiting for the third window to make his team world class could be a hint that he might try to get Griezmann before the next summer perhaps?
 
TonyTheYank said:
Is there any evidence that he truly favors MUFC?.
Click to expand...

Purely the fact that the guy seems to value his word and be very loyal and he also seems to have an agreement in principal with united from the summer.

I'd be stunned if he doesn't sign in January.
 
Barca were after Coutinho and Dybala this summer. there's no reason to assume they'll switch to Greizman just because they can get him a little cheaper.

i also highly doubt that Griezman, after loyally staying in Atletico's time of need, will then piss off to a rival team in the same league. just wouldnt make any sense.

also, yes, can we please stop this childhood fan business? like players really care about this at all. it's money first and trophies second.
 
cyberman said:
Love the way posters are telling us about all these clubs coming in for him as if they all didn't approach him last year.
Did you somehow think we had a free run at him this summer?
Click to expand...
Because last year the world was different. Last year his release clause seemed unreachable for most other clubs. But Chelsea bought Morata for £70m or so this summer and Arsenal had a bid of £92m accepted for Lemar. And the situation at Barcelona isn't so clear since the traitorous bastard, Neymar, stabbed his good, honourable, upstanding friends, Leo and Luis in the back. Sure, Barcelona have brought in Dembele but they were also linked with Di Maria. It's not so clear what's going on in that club at the moment.
 
I wonder if Griezmann would mean selling or letting go of Mata. Mata isn't getting younger, doesn't have pace...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.