Cerezo keeps the door open to Griezmann

The name of Antoine Griezmann continues to fly over the Metropolitan. The need for Barça to lower the salary mass of its staff to formalize the continuity of Leo Messi and register the four reinforcements confirmed to date -Sergio Agüero, Eric García, Memphis Depay and Emerson Royal- has placed the ‘Little Prince’ in the Mercado and Atlético appear among the best positioned due to their mattress past and because the rojiblancos offer a sports project that lives up to the Frenchman’s expectations. Its president, Enrique Cerezo, does not rule out the return of the man who scored 133 goals and distributed 50 assists in the 257 games he played with the Atlético team. “In the world of football, anything can happen,” said the leader after the presentation of the 8th edition of the Platinum Awards.

“I have no idea, they haven’t told me anything, I don’t know anything. I don’t know how the negotiations are, not even if there are, but there is little left for you to know what is going to happen, “said Cerezo, who cleared balls as best he could. “In the world of football everything is possible but in the case of Griezmann I have no idea, nor have I asked,” he said.

Although in the last hours the possibility of a trade between Griezmann and Saúl Ñíguez seems to have cooled, the urgencies of Barça and Atlético fit, although the operation is complex. The Catalans need to get rid of the high salary received by the Frenchman, one of the best paid in the squad, while the colchoneros look for a reinforcement in the offensive plot to add the figures of Luis Suárez and Joao Félix.

The Portuguese could also interest Barça, but Cerezo does not contemplate that he will enter any operation since there is faith in his definitive emergence under the orders of Diego Simeone. “Joao is an Atlético de Madrid player, has a long-term contract and is one of the leading figures in football in Europe,” said the Atlético president, who once paid 127 million euros to Benfica for the ‘Menino’ without so far you have made the investment profitable.

Impasse’

Similar figure -120 million euros- left Griezmann in the coffers of Atlético when he changed the Metropolitan for the Camp Nou a year after saying ‘no’ to Barça with that media ‘decision’ that raised blisters in the city of Barcelona and cooled the reception that Messi paid him when he finally decided to jump. Since then, the French striker has felt the annoyance of the rojiblanca fans, but another sector remembers the days of wine and roses that he lived with Atlético, a club with which he won a European Super Cup, another in Spain and a Europa League in the five seasons that he spent under the command of Cholo Simeone.

The negotiations, for the moment, remain in an ‘impasse’ because Barça does not plan to pay even one euro of Griezmann’s salary, who would have to significantly lower his emoluments to return to Atlético, and Saúl does not want to assume the drop of salary that the Catalans would claim to play at the Camp Nou at home. The representative of Elche also handles offers from the Premier. Meanwhile Griezmann would have to join Barça’s preseason on Tuesday, once the vacation period granted after his participation in the Eurocup is over.