Antoine Griezmann appears to confirm he will stay at Atletico Madrid

"Now, more than ever"

Robert Redmond

Antoine Griezmann appears to confirm he will stay at Atletico Madrid

It looks like Antoine Griezmann will remain at Atletico Madrid.

Griezmann has been linked with a move to Manchester United over the last few months, and everything suggested the club were prepared to break the world transfer record to sign the French forward.

However, reports emerged on Thursday afternoon from several sources claiming United had cooled their interest on Griezmann.

Manchester United are changing tack, Antoine Griezmann pursuit called off https://t.co/ja3eG3p5An

— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 1, 2017

The club are said to have backed off triggering Griezmann’s £87m release clause because they want to sign a centre-forward, a number nine, rather than a number 10.

According to reports, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s injury, which will rule him out until next year, has forced United to re-evaluate their transfer plans for the summer.

Which is strange considering the Swedish striker will be 36 in October, and was hardly at Old Trafford for the long-term anyway.

He might not be leaving after all https://t.co/BVEI2cVzsN

— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 1, 2017

Atletico’s transfer ban was also upheld on Thursday, meaning the Spanish club wouldn’t be prepared to lose their star player without securing a replacement.

Diego Simeone’s side won’t be able to sign players for two transfer windows. And the Atletico manager has a close relationship with Griezmann, so it’s possible the French forward would be less likely to push for a move.

Last week, Griezmann said the chances of him moving to United were “six out of 10”, but on Thursday night appeared to put an end to the transfer saga.

The 26-year-old tweeted a photo of him scoring for Atletico, with the caption: “Now, more than ever.”