Griezmann: "Right now, I've got no intention of leaving Atleti"

Antoine Griezmann's performances with Atlético have aroused the attentions of some of Europe's top clubs but the player insists he is staying put, for now. The French forward told Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) that his career plan for this year is "to try to get as far as possible in the Champions League with Atleti and win EURO 2016. That's all I'm thinking about. I have no intention of leaving Atlético". About the possibility of playing for a club in his homeland onday, he replied: "Maybe, You never know in football but right now I'm not thinking that far ahead".

Griezmann also chatted about how the season has been going for Atlético and his part in it. "I always try to be better than the year before. I my first season at Atlético I scored 25 goals and I hope to improve on those numbers this season (he's currently on 22 goals in 38 games). Now my game is more complete than it was before; for example, during the Valencia game at Mestalla, I intentionally went looking for the ball to start moves from a deeper position. Doing that gave me extra confidence".

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Griezmann also cited Simeone as the key figure behind his evolution as a player. "He lets me play with a lot of freedom, even when I have to drop back and help the defence. It requires a great efffort from every member of the tea, and we need to put in a lot of intensity in our training sessions. Preparing properly in July and August is also very important. Our strength lies in the power of the team. Physically, we are ending games better now than we were before and that's all down to the hard work we have done in advance. And I have learned a lot from El Cholo in terms of tactics - both defensively and in attack. I've learned a lot and I hope to continue learning more".