Griezmann: "Until I win a final, it will stay with me"
The Atlético Madrid striker spoke about the consecutive finals in the Champions League and the Euros against Real Madrid and Portugal in quick succession.
Antoine Griezmann does not want speculation over his future to drag into the World Cup. The French striker featured on the front of L'Equipe on Wednesday and said "my future will be decided before the World Cup". He also spoke about his current goalscoring streak and how difficult it is to maintain. "It's going to be hard because, that's the Cristiano or Messi pace. But yes, I'm happy with what I'm doing right now, even if there are games where I still lose the ball at different stages during which I'm not used to losing it. I try to improve a little bit in every aspect. But it's true that I'm having fun right now."
Atlético Madrid are willing to counter Barcelona's offer for the striker and as La Razón reported on the 13th of March, they will offer the striker €20 million net per season. Barcelona will have to pay his release clause of €100 million and it is unclear as to how much they have offered him in wages. Reports did suggest that Griezmann has already signed a pre-contract agreement with the azulgrana but Atlético Madrid bosses vehemently deny that.
Dropping in Balon d'Or ranking
He also says he had no problem being demoted from 3rd place in 2016 to 18th place in 2017 in Balon d'Or voting, "No. I didn't have a great year. There was no problem with that."
Regarding his ambitions, Griezmann said in L'Equipe that he would prefer to win collective titles opposed to individual awards: "The thing I want to win is a World Cup or a Champions League. After, the Balon d'Or will come if it has to. I am a person of the team, I prefer to win something with my club or my country rather than individual awards. For example, I liked the trophy for the best goalscorer in the Euros but I would have preferred to win the Euros."
Griezmann was also asked about losing the two finals to Portugal in the Euros and Real Madrid in the Champions League: "You had to forget about it and move on but it's not easy. It tires you out mentally. You work so hard to fall that close to your objective ... I thought of the final of the Euros for the entire next week that followed. I kept waking up, wondering how it could have escaped us. I had two chances with my head and then Gignac hit the post. if I am feeling better physically, I can knock it in. But I was dead, completely cooked. As for the final lost against Real Madrid, a little before, and this penalty that I missed ... I still think about it. If I scored it, we draw level. And for me, we really imposed ourselves. Anyway, until I win one, it'll stay with me.
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