Sometimes it’s easy to know when there’s a ‘but’ coming, and a Monday article from Spanish newspaper AS provides that for Antoine Griezmann.
‘Griezmann is a good person who loves and respects Atletico. He is very grateful for everything he has learned and lived in the club and his current bad luck has nothing to do with a supposed disinterest on his part. He works hard in training and wants more than anything to return to his true level. It’s not true that the Frenchman is resigned and thinking of a future far from Atleti.’
Then came the but. The Atletico attacker, who strongly flirted with a Manchester United transfer last summer, is said to be letting the ‘fame and media game’ go to his head.
Reality TV, countless commercial opportunities, and basically saying yes to far too many business advances. There’s likely a genuine point here. It’s almost as if Griezmann is living out his life as if the Manchester United transfer had happened and he’s a fully fledged Galactico.
Whilst much of the Spanish media believe it’s the Manchester United flirting which has seen Atletico fans turn against Griezmann, it could more so be the supposed fame chasing.
It’s not just Jose Mourinho’s men dragged in, AS reiterate that Griezmann recently said, on French TV again, that he’d like to play with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Another Spanish newspaper, Sport, go with a similar theme on Monday. They state Griezmann’s ‘head seems to be somewhere else’, with Manchester United then stated as a likely destination.
Although it’s Mourinho men who are presented first, Sport say Barcelona and Bayern Munich could also be possibilities.
‘The truth is that the behaviour of the French international on and off the pitch feeds all kinds of speculation’ state Sport, who don’t balance their article with praise in the way AS do.
These kind of claims are now daily in the Spanish media and the further the wedge is forced between Griezmann and Atletico, the harder it’s going to be for the two to come back together.
