HIGHLIGHT
Antoine Griezmann has said he feels “great” in the Spanish capital.
Antoine Griezmann
Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann insists he feels “great” in the Spanish capital and hailed the impact Atletico boss Diego Simeone has had on his career despite being consistently linked with a big money move to the Premier League.
Manchester United lead the chase for Griezmann, who has a 100 million euro ($106 million) buyout clause inserted into a new contract he signed with Atletico in June last year.
“I feel great at the club and in Madrid,” Griezmann told FIFA.com.
Any move for the Frenchman would be complicated by Atletico’s reluctance to sell as they face a transfer ban on registering new players this summer and move to a new 67,000-seater stadium.
“On a personal level I’m very happy, and in football terms we’re about to move to a new stadium, which is very important,” added Griezmann.
“We’ll just have to see what the future brings, but for now I’m very happy here and I hope to win trophies with this club.”
Simeone is expected to remain for at least one more season at Atletico after reducing the length of his contract that was originally supposed to go to 2020 but now will run out at the end after the 2017/18 season.
And Griezmann said it is thanks to the Argentine his star has risen since joining from Real Sociedad in 2014.
“He’s changed me. He’s brought so many things to my game that it’s hard to even begin to say what they are.
“Let’s just say that I wouldn’t have been regarded as one of the best players in the world if it weren’t for him.
“More than anything he’s helped me to be more effective in front of goal, to take every chance that comes my way, and, of course, to run and run and work hard for the team.
“You can’t make it at Atletico if you don’t do that.”
