Griezmann: Atlético waiting on France star as he eyes Barça
The Frenchman, who remains under contract at Atlético, is due to report for pre-season on Sunday at 20:30 but it seems unlikely he will turn up.
Atlético Madrid are standing firm in their handling of the Antoine Griezmann affair and expect the France striker, who is holding out for a move to Barcelona, to report for pre-season training on Sunday evening, with the side to then depart for Segovia for a two-week conditioning camp.
Griezmann, meanwhile, is waiting for Barcelona to make the definitive move to sign him after announcing that he would not be continuing at Atlético beyond the end of the 2018-19 season. The Camp Nou board, while admitting that contact had been made about the France striker, have tabled an offer of payment in installments and Barça president Josep Maria Bartomeu appearing non-committal over the France international during a press conference on Friday.
There have been reports that Barça and Griezmann reached an agreement back in March – which Atlético are understandably not very happy about – and with the striker’s release clause having dropped from 200 million euros to 120 million euros on July 1 the machinery is expected to be set in motion to facilitate the transfer next week.
Griezmann's lawyer says striker will not report for pre-season
Atlético issued a statement to the effect that they expected Griezmann and his sister and agent Maud to attend to the club’s petition and report to the club’s Cerro del Espino training complex on Sunday but his lawyer reportedly sent an email to the club on Saturday stating that his client would not be obeying the order.
Griezmann remains under contract with Atlético until 2023 and it remains to be seen what course of action the club will take if he refuses to comply with the terms of that deal by not putting in an appearance on Sunday.