Antoine Griezmann has been heavily linked with Manchester United over the last few months. Jose Mourinho is thought to be a fan of the Frenchman even from his days at Chelsea. The blues reportedly tried to sign him by allowing Diego Costa to return to the Vicente Calderon, but the move did not take place for various reasons. It seems that Chelsea are now looking at the possibility of the same even though the team has been doing exceedingly well in the last few weeks. According to the reports from the Express Sport, Antonio Conte is thought to have requested the Chelsea board to finance a world-record move for the French star.
Griezmann has been one of the best players in the La Liga alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the last two years. He continues to rank as one of the top scorers in the division even this season after having scored six goals – just two short of Messi. Interestingly, he has not taken any penalties in order to reach this figure unlike the Argentine superstar. He is believed to have a £86 million release clause in his contract. Along with the associated costs, the transfer would easily exceed the £89 million paid for Paul Pogba.
Chelsea once again are ready to sweeten the deal by sending Diego Costa the other way. Diego Simeone would love to have the Brazil-born Spanish player in his ranks. The 27-year-old is the leading scorer in the Premier League at the moment. The major problem for Chelsea, and indeed for any other club looking to sign him, would be the transfer embargo currently affecting Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish club have been given a ban for the next two transfer windows by FIFA over their involvement in the signing the under 18 players. The ban is similar to the punishment given out to Barcelona back in 2015. Arch rivals Real Madrid also face the same ban, and it is one of the main reasons for Real Madrid being on a contract extension spree over the last few weeks. In such a situation, Atletico would not be willing to let go of their star player as they cannot bring in a replacement for the next 18 months.
A lot will depend on the appeal by Atletico at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, the Spanish club are widely expected to lose the appeal just like Barcelona and Chelsea.
Of course, Atletico will not be able to prevent the player from switching clubs if his release clause is matched. Clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea will have little trouble in doing so. United may seem a better destination for the French striker, as it would give him the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Eric Cantona.
