Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann reacts to a missed chance during the Champions League round of 16 first Leg encounter with Juventus in Madrid February 20, 2019. — Reuters pic
MADRID, July 7 — Barcelona target Antoine Griezmann will ignore his club Atletico Madrid’s demand to turn up for training today, Spanish daily Marca reported.
“The French player has informed Atletico Madrid that he won’t be going to training,” the paper said yesterday.
An Atletico spokesperson told AFP: “Whether he tells us or not, it changes nothing. He us under contract with our club until 2023 and must resume training tomorrow like all the other players.”
On Friday, Atletico accused Barcelona and Griezmann of a “lack of respect” after the Catalan giants’ president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealed that the two clubs had held talks about the signing of the France international.
In a statement, the capital club confirmed a meeting had taken place, at Barca’s behest, on Thursday to discuss a deal to sign World Cup winner Griezmann, who has a release clause of €120 million (RM496 million) in his contract.
Atletico claimed Griezmann had told them he had struck a deal with Barcelona in March.
According to Marca, Griezmann told Atletico of “his sadness and personal disappointment” at the turn of events.
Griezmann — who announced in May that he would be leaving Atletico but could not reveal his destination until his release clause dropped from €200 million on July 1 — signed for the club from Real Sociedad in 2014 and has since scored 133 goals in 257 appearances for Diego Simeone’s men. — AFP
