http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/01/19/man-utd-working-86-million-antoine-griezmann-deal-atletico-madrid/
Good piece by James Ducker with quotes from Simeone saying he won't stand in Antoines way if he wants to join United. Also with Atletico moving into their new stadium next season it's thought the fee they get for Griezmann will offset some of the loans they got to pay for it.
Looks like this one may well happen.
Most of us have seen him in the CL (excellent against Bayern) and in La Liga but for those who don't know much about him this is a great YouTube clip of his strengths...
https://youtu.be/--yvtdTdcdc
Simeone won't stand in Griezmanns way
posted on 20/1/17
comment by rossobianchi - Got_Nameback (U17054)
posted 2 minutes ago
I just don't want him. There, I've said it.
Phew; I feel better now I'm out, to be honest.
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Bookmarked!
posted on 20/1/17
comment by Zlatan The King Ibrahimovic (U10026)
posted 18 minutes ago
I don't think Jose can make him all of a sudden have the attributes lacking to make him truly special. I've always felt Griezmann is quite a limited player. But he what he's good at he really excels at, which makes him a fantastic player.
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Like Muller.
posted on 20/1/17
Yep, though I think he's better than Muller.
posted on 20/1/17
comment by Robb Mkhitaryan (U21234)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by rossobianchi - Got_Nameback (U17054)
posted 2 minutes ago
I just don't want him. There, I've said it.
Phew; I feel better now I'm out, to be honest.
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Bookmarked!
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That's fine Robb.
If we spass £80-whatever-million on him and he comes in to play somewhere across the front line of three and scores a load of goals without compromising the development of Martial or Rashford, I'll be very happy.
If his signing signals the end of Martial or Rashford's United careers, I will not be best pleased.
If it sees the end of the expansive 4-3-3 we've been enjoying watching and a reversion to a narrow 4-2-3-1, I will be facked off.
posted on 20/1/17
Yeah, I get that Rossi.
Interesting times.
posted on 20/1/17
Robb, I don't think people are underrating him any more than you're going ott, tbh. I like Griezmann, but as Daz said, I just don't think he has that wow factor to make him truly special. He's done excellently in an extremely good side; so did Costa, so did Falcao, and so, I dare say, would quite a few others.
There's also a slight question mark over his bottle at the really, really highest pressure moments, which he still has a lot of time to disprove.
RoM, it's very hard to second-guess Simeone. After they lost their second CL final he wanted to throw in the towel, but thought it over during the summer and decided to stay on.
It might be that he wants one last shot at the CL, or it might just have been a kneejerk response to an extremely bitter disappointment.
If you want my personal opinion though, my gut feeling it's the former and he'll want to move on -maybe to be back at some point in the future- before he ruins his legacy at Atlético.
posted on 20/1/17
I fancy Simeone to see out the rest of his contract. It'll be a struggle for Atleti adapting to their new surroundings when they move stadium and if Griezmann does go even more so. I think he'll be there for one season in the new stadium to steady the ship and then say his farewells.
No surprise that he reduced his contract to coincide with this, and Inter have given Pioli an 18 month contract that ends next season.
posted on 20/1/17
Who Atleti replace him with is going to be massive. I thought he'll leave the squad in good shape but it's going to be hard for his successor to get Simeone's squad performing to the levels he has.
posted on 20/1/17
Atleti were incredibly fortunate with Simeone, the current owners don't have a great track record for their choice of or patience with managers. I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they mucked his succession up.
posted on 20/1/17
That's true. Though I think Atleti have a bit more clout around Europe now so could potentially attract a manager with a high profile.