Boy, what a day we’ve had. Yesterday we heard that Antoine Griezmann is gonna leave Atletico Madrid. Therefore, the rumors about the French heading to the Camp nou are massive since then. However, there are some other topics in today’s Barca News Recap. Thanks as always to @blaugranagram for the updates.
Griezmann heading to Barca?
Bayern Munich, PSG and Barça have all shown interest in Antoine Griezmann. Bayern have probed his agent & sister, and are the only club who can offer him to retain his salary of about €20M yearly. They see him as part of replacing Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben.
Atléti’s president, Enrique Cerezo: “It [Griezmann leaving] was a surprise. I thought he had a future with Atléti. I’m disappointed. We respect his decision and wish him all the luck in the world. I have no idea where he’ll play next.” [@partidazocope]
The player himself asked Barça for his agreement with them to be brought back to life. The club is being cautious after La Decisión, but see him as a great option, and ask him to honor the deal from last summer; a deal which contained a €16M salary per year. The club won’t consider the deal done until everything is signed. [@RuizAntonito / @partidazocope]
De Ligt questioning Barca move?
A club source from Barça has said the club understands that the next few days are vital and definitive. The source didn’t rule out that de Ligt and de Jong could be presented together. [@Elwood_White, ESPN ]
Frenkie de Jong: “Honestly, I don’t know what de Ligt will do. It’s his decision to make, but the truth is it’s not important to me whether he joins Barça are not. It’d be good for us to be together and really good for the club to buy such a good player for the coming years.” [MD]
My source tells me that nothing’s really changed in terms of de Ligt: his priority is still Barça. He does want to be guaranteed playing time, but Barça are the only club really in for him right now. Things could really take off after Ajax’ game v De Graafschap today.