Antoine Griezmann has confirmed he is staying at Atletico Madrid, due to the decision to uphold a transfer ban on the club.
Along with city rivals Real, Los Rojiblancos were handed a two-window transfer ban in January 2016 for breaching rules on the registration of under-18 players. Both failed with appeals to Fifa last September, but Los Blancos saw their ban halved to one window in December by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but it was confirmed last week that Atletico’s ban stands.
On the same day as this announcement was made, it transpired that Manchester United had cooled their interest in Griezmann. The Uefa Europa League winners had been linked with the striker for several weeks, and he himself had flirted with a move to Old Trafford even revealing on television that there was a ‘six out of ten’ possibility of him joining Jose Mourinho’s side.
Once it was confirmed that the transfer ban would stand and United had cooled their interest, Griezmann took to social media to claim that ‘now, more than ever’ he was Atletico. And if there was any doubt over his future, he has now confirmed he plans to stay at the club he joined from Real Sociedad in July 2014 for a fee in the region of £24million.
“The ruling of the CAS has come through. Atletico cannot recruit. With my sporting advisor, Eric Olhats, we decided to stay,” he said. “It’s a hard time for the club. It would be a dirty move to leave now. We talked to the leaders and we will be back for next season.”
