Reputed Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague believes that Antoine Griezmann would join Manchester United this summer if they qualified for the Champions League. The Red Devils are set to take on Ajax in the Europa League final, which is the team’s last resort to qualify for next season’s Champions League. A win would see United enter the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
A disappointing season in the Premier League saw United finish 6th, below the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal. Despite a 25-game unbeaten run, Manchester United could not move up the table, largely due to 13 draws in those 25 games. A defeat at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium proved too costly and Tottenham added to United’s struggle by defeating Mourinho’s men 2-1 at the White Hart Lane, in what was the final game at the stadium.
Nevertheless, United have a great chance of qualifying for the Champions League and no matter what, Mourinho and his men shouldn’t let this one slip. It is a good opportunity to win a European trophy and the season can be considered a success if Europa League is won.
With the possibility of Champions League football still alive, Balague says that a qualification for the same would help United land Antoine Griezmann. On Monday, Griezmann marked his chances of joining Manchester United this summer as 6 out of 10, but his chances of staying at Atletico as seven out of 10, and said that his future will be decided in the next few weeks.
United are interested in signing the Atletico Madrid forward, according to Griezmann’s adviser, and Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Balague says a win on Wednesday would open the door for the Frenchman.
Balague told Sky Sports: “I’ve got the impression if United are in the Champions League, he will join them. Manchester United are willing to pay the 100m euros (£87m) for his buyout clause. He perhaps sees Manchester United, in the medium term at least, as a candidate to win the Premier League and the Champions League, because of the money that will be invested into the side.”
“He obviously wasn’t innocent when he said what he said to French television programme Quotidien. We’ve seen the images, and he quite clearly meant to do this. When he was asked out of 10 what the chances of going to Manchester United are, he said six. That number is not higher than six because he is waiting to see whether Manchester United make the Champions League.”
“If they do not, he will still think about it. Meanwhile, what that means is that Atletico, who are preparing to offer him a new contract, have panicked and will put even more money on the table. He expects to choose between United and Atletico’s new contract.”
Griezmann, 26, has been the star of the Vicente Calderon for the past three seasons, scoring 83 goals in 160 games for Diego Simeone’s side. Atletico will move into a new stadium next season, but Balague believes the financial might of United going forward has given Griezmann a tough decision to make.
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