Bharath Rammr
Former Manchester United and Liverpool striker Michael Owen is growing increasingly confident that we will be able to complete the signings of Antoine Griezmann and one other world-class player in the summer transfer window. Manchester United are set to open the wallets in a big way. If the £150 million expenditure last summer on players like Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan did not seem extravagant, the upcoming summer could provide more than £300 million in talent coming to Old Trafford. Antoine Griezmann has been one of the heavily linked players, and Atletico are resigned to losing the French superstar.
After securing Champions League football for next season, United have immediately gone out in pursuit of Griezmann, who recently rated his chances of going to Old Trafford as 6/10. However, these statements were made just before the Europa League final when United were still uncertain about a place in the premier European competition next season. Now with qualification to the group stages already secured, Griezmann could be one of the several names coming to the club. United have stepped up interest in the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Jose Gimenez, Michael Keane, and Victor Lindelof.
Owen is widely known for his spell with Liverpool and Manchester United. The striker is now serving as a pundit for BT Sport. His connections with United make him a great person to offer insights into the club’s transfer policy, even though we have undergone several managerial changes since Owen left the club several years ago. Owen remains extremely confident that a major signing would follow Griezmann. He said:
“They might get Griezmann and one other [world-class player].
“Last summer, they got Pogba and Ibra. If they get to world-class players, that’s a lot of money to spend.”
Griezmann came to prominence at Atletico Madrid even though he started scoring goals at Real Sociedad. The 26-year-old came to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2014. His time at the Vicente Calderon has been reasonably successful. He lifted the Spanish Super Cup in his three years at the club, and it seems that the 26-year-old wants to win more major honours before the end of his prime days. He has a contract with Atletico until the summer of 2021, but a release clause in his contract, which was incidentally signed only a year ago, will allow Manchester United to sign the player for around £84 million.
While this would make him one of the world’s most expensive players, Manchester United are aware that this may be the only way to get the player, who has a contract with Atletico until 2021.
Besides, the club are also interested in signing 100 Million rated Everton striker Romelu Lukaku.
