Antoine Griezmann announces he will leave Atletico Madrid

Antoine Griezmann has informed Atletico Madrid of his desire to leave the club at the end of the season.

One season after releasing a documentary that he would stay at Atletico Madrid amid Barcelona interest, Antoine Griezmann has now informed the colchoneros that he is set to depart at the end of the season.

Griezmann and the Atletico Madrid board held a meeting in which the latter wanted the Frenchman to let them know of his desire one way or another. According to Marca, the meeting took place between Griezmann, Diego Simeone, and Atletico Madrid president, Miguel Angel Gil Marin.

Once that report broke, it did not take long before Atletico Madrid confirmed the rumor and later posted a video on their Twitter account with the French forward saying his goodbyes.

The €120 million question, which is his release clause, is where will he end up. The odds-on favorite to land Griezmann is Barcelona. The Catalan side thought they had a deal in place for the Frenchman before he decided to remain at Atletico. That interest, which cooled at the start of the season, has never really gone away from Barcelona’s end.

With Philippe Coutinho‘s time at the club seemingly coming to an end and needing a replacement for Luis Suarez, for Barcelona, Griezmann looks like an ideal fit. What changes for Barcelona this time is that the player has made his desire to leave public and Atletico Madrid have had no choice but to accept that decision.

Griezmann’s signing does appear to be contingent upon Barcelona selling Coutinho because there’s no room to play all the forwards and the club cannot afford to pay everyone those high wages. Perhaps they’ll need to sell even more players aside from Coutinho.

It will be interesting to see the kind of reception that the forward would get considering he was roundly booed when the two sides met one another at the Camp Nou.

The French forward spent five seasons at Atletico Madrid having gone there after a successful stint at Real Sociedad. He said he is ready for new challenges and Atletico Madrid will need to do the same. Having already lost Diego Godin and with the uncertain futures of Juanfran and Filipe Luis and now losing Griezmann, it’s going to be a tough transition period for Cholo Simeone’s side.