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Football

12th May 2018

Just when you thought the Antoine Griezmann to Man United rumours were dead, along comes this…

Simon Lloyd

*Takes pinch of salt*

Anyone for some far-fetched Antoine Griezmann to Manchester United transfer gossip? Good. You’re in just the right place.

Seemingly forgetting that we are no longer in May 2017, one report claims the French international could be about to head to Old Trafford this summer, a year on from deciding against such a move.

Griezmann had looked nailed on to join United after their Europa League win at the end of last season guaranteed them a return to the Champions League, even going on telly to talk about it. However, with a deal seemingly imminent, Atletico Madrid were hit with a transfer ban. Concerned that his club wouldn’t be able to sign a replacement, Griezmann opted to stay put.

Since then, talk of Griezmann heading to Old Trafford has died out almost entirely. The January arrival of Alexis Sanchez (albeit with Henrikh Mkhitaryan leaving as part of the deal) appeared to be the final nail in the coffin for anyone still hoping the 27-year-old would become a United player.

On top of this, Griezmann has been strongly linked with a move to Barcelona with reports in Spain discussing how the recently crowned La Liga champions have already held talks with his representatives about such a move.

Ignoring all of this, Don Balon claim that Griezmann to United could still be a goer – especially after Atleti were left a little pissed off at Barca for negotiating with their player before they’d given their blessing for them to do so.

They claim Jose Mourinho is still desperate to add him to his United squad, so desperate, in fact, that he’d be willing not only sanction an £88m transfer fee, but also chuck in an unnamed ‘star player’ as part of the deal. A quite incredible (and utterly ridiculous) offer, we’re sure you’ll agree.

Still, stranger things have happened…