Atletico Madrid star forward Antoine Griezmann, who was heavily speculated to move to La Liga Champions Barcelona in the summer transfer window, made the announcement on Thursday that he will be staying at the club. The 27-year old, who scored the winning goal against Marseille in the Europa League final last month, announced his decision in a documentary broadcast programme called “The Decision”, made by Spanish network Movistar Plus.
In the documentary, the striker talked about his struggles with the decisions and finally declared his intention to stay at Madrid club. “They are doing everything possible to make sure the team keeps growing. It’s incredible. I can’t take it anymore, I need to tell the people that I want to stay,” he wrote. He also posted a video on Twitter with the captain, “My fans, my team, my home.”
The France international, who was voted as the third best player in 2016, was heavily targetted by Barcelona since he signed a new contract with Atletico in May 2017 which had a release clause of 200 million euros. With the buy-out clause sum set to drop to 100 million on July 1, 2018, Barca President Josep Maria Bartomeu admitted that he has spoken to the representatives of the player. Atletico expressed their displeasure over the Catalan’s club approaches towards Griezmann, declaring they were “sick of Barcelona’s attitude” in the lead- up to the Europa League final in Lyon last month.
The France forward joined Atletico in July 2014 and has been the top goal scorer for the club in every season he has played in so far. He has scored 79 goals for the club in 142 appearances, in all competitions
