Player hailed for rejecting Barcelona, explains reason for turning down Camp Nou proposal

Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann was heavily linked with a move to Barcelona in the summer transfer window.

The 27-year-old’s then contract at the Spanish capital club had a release clause of €100m, which could only trigger from July 1st and until then his buyout clause was set at €200m.

Barcelona’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu also revealed meeting the forward’s agent last October.

The former Real Sociedad star was part of France’s World Cup winning squad and even before Les Bleus’ first match of the FIFA tournament against Australia, he revealed that he will continue with the Europa League winners.

Spanish newspaper AS explains that rejecting an opportunity to play alongside Lionel Messi ‘makes him great’, and Griezmann has now given an interview to the same publication and has revealed why he decided to stay at the Wanda Metropolitano.

“That also shows greatness of the club, to Cholo, to my teammates… If they are bad, I’m going. But I have confidence in Cholo, in the club and all my teammates,” he said. 

“I want to help the [club] grow and I trust them to help me grow too. We gave each other very much and everything is very positive for this to go higher.”