Manchester United seem to have rekindled their interest in French forward Antoine Griezmann and are set to make a last-ditch bid of around £95 million for the Atletico Madrid star, as per The Sun. We had reported a few weeks ago about the Griezmann situation and how a few Barcelona board members were no longer keen on bringing the Frenchman to the Nou Camp.
It now seems that the Red Devils will make one last bid for Griezmann and will try to convince him to sign for them rather than Barcelona, who still look like the favourites to secure the forward’s signature. The report states that the English side are willing to pay the lofty £450,000 per week wage demands of the Frenchman as well as a £95 million transfer fee. But with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain competing to sign him, it is going to be a tough task for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and co. to make him sign for Manchester United.
The 28-year-old Frenchman penned a new contract with Atletico Madrid last year, which will expire only in 2023 but declared his intention to leave the club this summer. Griezmann has been a vital member of the Atletico Madrid team since signing for them from Real Sociedad in 2014 for a fee of around €30 million. He has won the Europa League with Atletico, while also being an integral part of the 2018 French World Cup-winning squad.
Why Ole should avoid this
Antoine Griezmann is probably one of the best forwards in the world, scoring and assisting bucketloads year after year for Atletico, as well as French national side. He is currently in his prime and probably has a few more years at the top of his game.
But signing a player like Griezmann could be disruptive and may go against the rumoured new transfer policy set forth by Solskjaer where the club are focusing on quality young British players in the market. Firstly, his astronomical wages could cause some unrest at the club. The Manchester United dressing room hasn’t been the most harmonious place over the last few seasons with the pay disparity amongst the top stars proving difficult to handle and a move such as this will further hamper the dressing room equilibrium.
United will also be repeating the same mistakes that they did when they signed Alexis Sanchez – signing a player on astronomical wages and one who is in his prime with the inevitable dip in form not far away. Manchester United must invest in youth and build a team rather than put all their eggs in one basket with the signing of a player like Griezmann, who will end up costing a lot of money to the club in return for a couple of good seasons.
