Barcelona chief Joan Laporta slashes Antoine Griezmann transfer price ahead of summer

Barcelona: Pundit backs Antoine Griezmann to leave club

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Barcelona are willing to accept a reduced fee for Antoine Griezmann in this summer’s transfer window, reports say. The France international could leave the Nou Camp having struggled for consistency ever since his arrival from Atletico Madrid. And whether the likes of Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain renew old interest remains to be seen.

Barcelona signed Griezmann in the summer transfer window of 2019.

They chose to land the France international instead of going after Neymar, who Lionel Messi actually wanted instead.

Griezmann has never lived up to his £108million price tag, however, failing to achieve consistency under the likes of Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien and Ronald Koeman throughout his spell at the Nou Camp.

And, now, OkDiario claim Barcelona are ready to sell the forward this summer.

They paid £108million upon bringing him to Catalonia but, now, want a fee of £52m to part ways with the 2018 World Cup winner.

Yet they’re pessimistic about their chances of cutting him loose, with interest from the likes of Manchester United and PSG appearing to have subsided.

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United wanted to recruit Griezmann from Atletico Madrid after winning the Europa League under Jose Mourinho four years ago.

However, they ended up missing out with Atletico slapped with a transfer ban at the time that would have prevented them from landing a replacement.

Griezmann’s refusal to move to Old Trafford saw the Red Devils land Romelu Lukaku instead.

And United now have other priorities with the likes of Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, Declan Rice, Jules Kounde and Raphael Varane all under consideration.

Regarding PSG, a move to the Parc des Princes also seems unlikely.

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Even if they lose Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid, the Ligue 1 giants would prefer to sign either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

And it seems as though Barcelona might be stuck with Griezmann for the foreseeable future, despite Joan Laporta’s desire to get him off the wage bill to free up funds.

While that’s the case, the Catalan giants do appear to be confident of signing three players.

They want to land Memphis Depay from Lyon, with the Netherlands international helping his side challenge PSG for the Ligue 1 title.

Georginio Wijnaldum is also on their radar, with the Dutchman looking increasingly likely to leave Liverpool behind.

And Barcelona are confident they’ll land Eric Garcia from Manchester City, too.

Garcia recently talked up a move to Barcelona by admitting he’d love the chance to play alongside Messi, having previously come through the club’s La Masia academy.

“It would be special to play with Messi,” said the City defender, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

“Everyone knows that he is the best player in the world and what he does week after week is incredible.

“My situation is the same, I have a contract with City, it is true that this year is ending and what happens outside is carried out by my agent. In summer there are the Euros and I have to be prepared for this.

“If they (Barcelona) have to talk about something, they will have to talk about it with my agent, I am focused on this season, on my team and on the national team.”

Meanwhile, Laporta has insisted Koeman will remain in charge of the side and that the former Everton and Southampton boss ‘knows’ he has the board’s backing.

“We’re aiming to win titles,” he said.

“Ronald, you already know you have the confidence of this new board of directors.

“What we want to see is that the team is improving and we are happy and hopeful that it will continue to grow.”

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