Antoine Griezmann, the world’s current third-best attacker (or the third “The Best”) could be the chip that Atletico Madrid cashes in to fund their new stadium. If Atletico choose to sell Griezmann, a willing buyer (or two) will come from Manchester.
The pieces are starting to fit together. Atletico Madrid are in the process of building a new 67,000 seat stadium called the Wanda Metropolitano but will need a rumored cash infusion for the stadium to make it in time to be ready for a proposed 2017 opener.
Manchester United have just returned to the top of Deloitte Football Money League (with matchday, broadcast and commercial revenues in the 2015-16 season of over 500 million pounds) despite finishing fifth in the league, third in their Champions League group behind Wolfsburg and PSV and needed to find some loose change somewhere (reportedly a 8.4 million pound pay-off) to end the contract with former manager Louis van Gaal.
These two thoughts are combined here because the link between them is an Antoine Griezmann transfer to Manchester United in the summer of 2017. The linking of Griezmann to United makes sense as there are very few clubs in the world who can activate a 100 million Euro release clause. The richest club (by Deloitte’s measurements) would be one of them.
Here are three reasons why Griezmann will end up in Manchester.
(1) A Signal of Intent from the Red Half of Manchester: The battle for Champions League positions in the EPL standings among the top six teams is set to go down to the wire and if Jose Mourinho and United remain on the outside looking in, the club will need to do something to signal their intent as England’s biggest club and one that does not belong in the Europa League (or whatever it will be called next season).
Making the biggest purchase of the summer transfer window for the second straight season (see Pogba, Paul) would be another indication that it is the manager’s turn to bring forward a title push with all the talent that the club’s financial muscle is providing.
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(2) A Ready-Made solution to usher Rooney out the door: If the exits of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal are any indication, the strategy to let Wayne Rooney see out the remainder of his playing days in the red of Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League or a MLS expansion team in Los Angeles will have backlash and the club needs to be prepared for discontent should the club’s soon-to-be all-time leading goal scorer be shown any lack of courtesy by the club.
Purchasing Antoine Griezmann to play support striker and partner the Zlatan next season will go a long way to healing any rift that emerges should Rooney be treated the way Moyes and van Gaal were just before the axe fell.
(3) The Domestic Solution is a Non-Starter: The second and third richest clubs according to Deloitte are Barcelona (620.2 million Euros) and Real Madrid (620.1 million Euros) and both rival Atletico for silverware under the current incarnation of La Liga.
While both these giants would be able to afford a 100 million Euro transfer, Atletico is never going to agree to sell their talisman to a title rival, especially their neighbors in Madrid. If Griezmann is going to be sold, it will happen in the summer and it will be as a talent exported from Spain to keep Griezmann’s talents away from their nearest rivals.
Next: United and Madrid will fight for star
Too many signs point to Griezmann joining Manchester United. Even today, Memphis Depay was sold to Lyon which makes the iconic Manchester United Number Seven shirt available – the shirt Griezmann covets and the number he already wears for club and country. It should not be a surprise when United flex their financial muscle to land him in June before the start of the club’s lucrative pre-season tours.