Around the time of the announcement that Lionel Messi had pre-agreed a contract with Barcelona to renew, claims that Antoine Griezmann and Saúl Ñiguez were involved in a swap emerged.
That deal, which seemed set in stone at one point, still hasn’t gone through, giving the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United hope they can still get their man.
That’s because Joshua Barnett, who is part of ICM Stellar, the agency that represents the Spanish player, has claimed that ‘Saúl will do with his future what is best for Saúl’.
Speaking to AS, the agent explained that ‘nothing has been decided’ and the player ‘has as many options to stay as to leave’.
While the swap with Barcelona is one of them, but the newspaper explain it’s ‘not as close’ as what has been published to date.
This, in turn, gives hope to the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, with both teams ‘very interested in taking over the player’s services’, especially since the Reds recently lost Georginio Wijnaldum on a free to Paris Saint-Germain.
As for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, a new midfielder wouldn’t go amiss in his squad, regardless of whether Paul Pogba stays or goes.
So, Manchester United and Liverpool still appear to be in the race for Saúl, although how long that will last for remains to be seen.
