Antoine Griezmann to make shock Arsenal move?
FT Desk
- 30 Aug 2022 17:04 BST
- 3 min read
Antoine Griezmann could be an Arsenal player before the season's out, according to reports in Spain.
Griezmann is currently halfway through a two-year loan deal at Atletico Madrid from Barcelona, having first left the capital club for Camp Nou for €120 million in July 2019.
While he endured a difficult two seasons at Barca with a certain Lionel Messi occupying his favourite position, Griezmann might have expected to get back to his best at the club he scored 133 goals in 257 games with in his first spell there, winning the Europa League in 2018.
Griezmann has featured for 29 minutes in Atletico Madrid's first two games.
His loan deal from Barca becomes permanent is he plays in 30 😂https://t.co/ZXeVy5MWyv— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 24, 2022
But Griezmann's experience at the Estadio Metropolitano this season has been a strange one: three games played, but none of them for more than 30 minutes at a time - and this is an injury-free World Cup winner we're talking about.
But with Atletico wanting to balance their books, they have no intention of meeting the obligatory clause to make Griezmann's loan deal permanent for €40m - something that is activated if he plays more than 30 minutes in more than 50 per cent of La Liga games this season.
A way out with Arsenal?
Arsenal could come to Griezmann's rescue, according to Diario Sport.
"Arsenal is one of the teams most interested in his signing," they write. "The English team, aware of the difficult situation of the French player, is willing to sign him in December, also driven by their great start in the Premier League with four wins so far."
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While Arsenal may not want to disrupt a winning formula with Gabriel Jesus shining since his £45m/€52m summer arrival from Manchester City, Griezmann's English agent Terry Gibson will be pushing the Gunners to move now with only three months to go until the World Cup.
Griezmann is still likely to make the plane for Didier Deschamps' France squad as they look to defend their title in Qatar, but the next few months playing less than 30 minutes a game is hardly ideal preparation.
