It appears Manchester United fans are going to have to wait a little bit longer to find out whether or not Atlético Madrid’s ban this summer is upheld or not.
Over the past few days, the message was clear: the 31st of May would be the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s deadline day.
However, according to El Pais, that has now been moved to the 1st of June, after CAS admitted it would not be meeting the deadline.
If Griezmann wants to leave Atlético Madrid, he still can, even if his club decide to make things difficult for him, as all the Red Devils have to do is give him the money, which he will then deposit to the La Liga offices to trigger his release clause.
In the past, buying clubs would try and avoid this as there would be added tax, but the rules have since changed, which we covered in detail here, meaning that no longer is an issue.
If the ban is upheld, all that realistically stands in Manchester United’s way is Antoine Griezmann’s reluctance to leave the club that did so much for him in a lurch.
After all, if he did leave in such circumstances, Atlético wouldn’t be able to register any summer signings until January, leaving them without a replacement for the France international for a good 4-6 months.
If the ban if lifted, well, that would make Griezmann’s departure slightly easier to take in for Atlético, as they’d be able to reinvest Manchester United’s €100m into new signings.
Whispers from Spain suggested on Wednesday the ban would be upheld, which was a big U-turn from previous reports that it was likely to be lifted.
Perhaps something else came up, and that is what has caused the CAS to take a bit longer over their decision?
We’ll have to wait and see.
