Liverpool and Manchester United are reportedly competing for the signature of Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara. However, the competition between the two Premier League giants is not only in the hunt for Alcantara.
The Daily Mail reports Liverpool and Man United are also looking at the opportunity to get Antoine Griezmann out of Barcelona. Griezmann was a quality player but lacked prominence during his debut season at Barcelona.
The French player was brought in by Barcelona from Atletico Madrid in the 2019 summer transfer market. Barcelona expects Griezmann to be a sharp spearhead like he did at Atletico.
However, Barcelona’s expectations were too high for Griezmann. The French player actually found it difficult to adapt to other Barcelona players. Griezmann even finds it difficult to get close to an important figure in the Barcelona game, namely the captain Lionel Messi.
The media had reported that Messi didn’t like Griezmann because La Pulga – Messi’s nickname – wanted the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) striker who was bought by Barcelona. This made it even more difficult for Griezmann to adapt.
As time went on, Griezmann was gradually able to explore his life at Barcelona well. This is directly proportional to the increase in the performance of the 29-year-old player.
Griezmann hasn’t looked like he did when he was defending Atletico but he helped Barcelona’s front line last season. Griezmann scored 15 goals in 48 Barcelona matches.
Griezmann in the end failed to present a trophy for Barcelona. The failure was not entirely due to Griezmann’s lackluster performance. There are many factors that put Barcelona down.
Meanwhile, Barcelona will also lose heavily if they let Griezmann go now because the Blaugrana bought him at a high price. Griezmann deserves at least one more season to prove his worth at Barcelona.
The presence of Ronald Koeman as Barcelona’s new coach might give Griezmann a breath of fresh air. The French player can shine as long as it matches the Dutch tactician’s strategy.
