Antoine Griezmann Insists He Has No Intention of Leaving Barcelona

Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann has denied there is any chance of him leaving Camp Nou this summer, despite a difficult first year following his 2019 transfer from Atletico Madrid.

Griezmann completed a controversial €120m last July when Barcelona triggered the buyout clause in his contract when the figure was lowered. Atletico argued Barça should have paid the higher €200m fee because they claimed the deal had been agreed before the price drop activated.

The Frenchman subsequently struggled to justify his vast transfer fee and scored just 15 goals in all competitions – his lowest single season tally since 2012/13 when he was at Real Sociedad. His nine La Liga goals was the first time he had failed to hit double figures in the league since 2011/12.

Griezmann actually started reasonably well upon moving to Barça, but only one goal after the delayed La Liga season restarted and only two league goals in the calendar year 2020 is damning.

It was rumoured in Spain in late August that Barça had offered Griezmann back to Atletico as part of a swap deal that proposed Joao Felix heading to Camp Nou. ESPN later also claimed it to be true and that a discussion did take place, although it was contested as to which side initiated it.

Speaking about his future while on international duty this week, Griezmann has pledged himself to Barcelona and has no intention of moving on.

“Is my future at Barça? Yes, and I don't know why people invent destinations to see if one day they will be right,” he is quoted as saying by Marca.

“I am very good [at Barcelona]. I know I have the confidence of the club and the coach, so I am fine. It has been a very complicated season for all and here we begin again.”

In a separate interview, Griezmann also acknowledged that his on-field relationship with Lionel Messi has needed time to develop. However, he is confident it will still blossom because he had a similar experience playing alongside Kylian Mbappe at international level.

Under pressure Barça president Josep Maria Bartomeu recently included Griezmann in a list of eight players the club considers ‘non-transferable’ and will not sell. Also on that list is Messi, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Frenkie de Jong, Ousmane Dembele, Nelson Semedo, Clement Lenglet and Ansu Fati.

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