Griezmann comments could alert Premier League clubs

Stories circulating today claim that Antoine Griezmann is restless at Atletico Madrid could spark the interest of several top Premier League clubs.

Griezmann has supposedly been on the radar of a number of European clubs, including perhaps Premier League clubs, for a while. But despite this, just last summer he signed a new contract at Atletico, which seemed to indicate he would stay at the Spanish club long-term.

But now according to several reports, the French international forward is regretting not leaving for Barcelona last year.

Ideally so the rumours go, he would like to re-vive that move if possible. However it’s not certain he is still a target of the Catalan club.

So if he does agitate for a move this summer and he doesn’t go to another Spanish side, (as it would seem unlikely he could move to Real Madrid), where might Griezmann go?

The Premier League seems an obvious place to consider.

If the Frenchman is available a number of English clubs would surely be interested in him.

One of those could be Manchester United. The Old Trafford club will surely put together a big transfer fund for whoever is the new manager this summer.

In addition it’s likely that United will also be selling several of their current players on high wages like Alexis Sanchez, so freeing up further potential funds to spend.

But unless United are playing in the Champions League next season, Griezmann might not consider Old Trafford as a possible destination.

Across Manchester, their rivals City would seem an ideal fit for the Frenchman  and his qualities.

Under Pep Guardiola they are playing a Barcelona-like brand of football and despite his prodigious goal-scoring there have been persistent rumours that striker Sergio Aguero might leave.

Chelsea might also have had an interest in him and they are certainly looking for another centre-forward to bolster their title chances next season but they are facing a transfer ban until 2020.

And assuming they don’t overturn that ban, they will have their hands tied next summer.

Another club apparently looking for forward reinforcements, is Premier League leaders Liverpool. The Anfield club were strongly linked with another French-born forward, Nabil Fekir last summer.

That potential deal eventually fell through but Liverpool still seem to be interested in strengthening their attacking options, despite the array of talent they have.

This season there has been plenty of discussion around the decline in the effectiveness of Roberto Firmino.  While Liverpool also seem to have missed this season the creativity and goals of Phillipe Coutinho, sold to Barcelona.

However whichever club moves for Griezmann, assuming he is to move on, would probably have to pay around £100-150 million for the French World Cup winner.

That could be a prohibitive fee even for these major English clubs.