It’s already become one of the transfer soap operas of the summer, but at least there would appear to be an imminent resolution to what Antoine Griezmann does next.
With France due to play their World Cup opener on Saturday, the Atletico Madrid striker has promised that he’ll announce his intentions before a ball has been kicked in earnest in Russia.
That it’s taken this long for him to definitively make his decision has suggested to many that it’s because he’s on his way to Barcelona. If he were staying put he would simply say so, right?
That’s as maybe, but lots of recent column inches have been devoted to the notion that he will continue at the Wanda Metropolitano for the near future at least.
He would become Atletico Madrid’s highest earner and his status as the main man won’t be questioned.
The latter is something that he’ll not get at Barca of course. Lionel Messi is going nowhere and as Neymar found out, everyone is still in the Argentinian’s shadow.
But… look at the season they’ve just completed.
A double win, only three games lost in total, and one goal away from completing an unbeaten campaign.
Why wouldn’t Griezmann want to be a part of a team that can achieve that? But for a poor night in Rome, they could well have gone on to give Real Madrid a headache in Kiev.
Atleti won a trophy too of course. A Europa League triumph that had Griezmann’s name writ large across the final against Marseille.
It’s a ‘second-tier’ tournament now, but the Rojiblancos have also won La Liga and got to two Champions League finals in the recent past.
Diego Simeone gets results even though his team are still a work in progress.
There is absolutely still unfinished business for Simeone, and it would appear that Griezmann recognises this.
Perhaps still not considered as a true European heavyweight, Atleti are none the less still one of the hardest teams to beat on the continent.
With a little bit of luck in the big moments, they could well have bagged a Champions League or two themselves by now.
So, it’s easy to understand why spearheading the growth of Madrid’s ‘second club’ would appeal to the Frenchman.
His current outfit perhaps have different ambitions to Barcelona, but they are still incredibly ambitious.
Furthermore, Griezmann knows and loves the Atleti dressing room, and he’s at home there.
Chasing trophies has its appeal, but for once maybe we’ll see a player put his and his family’s happiness before anything else. The rest will follow.
That’s not lacking ambition.
