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Antoine Griezmann lit up Euro 2016 in the summer, scoring six goals, assisting two goals, and claiming the player of the tournament award, and it seems that his hard work is being noticed in Manchester.
The Frenchman has scored seven goals in 16 games this year, which is impressive for a player who went on a three-month goal drought. Mark Ogden, from ESPN, has said: “Griezmann is expected to leave Atletico this summer and he will have the pick of the world’s elite clubs to choose from, with Manchester United currently leading the way.”
Old Trafford has a French connection now, with close friends Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba both playing for the side, which could very much tempt the Atletico Madrid player. But with Manchester United playing so well at the moment, some fans may wonder where he would fit in.
With Michael Carrick ageing and yet to sign a new contract at the club, it’s unsure whether he will be in the side in August, meaning another Manchester United midfielder could fill his position, leaving the number 10 position open.
Griezmann has been known to play as a striker, right-winger and number 10 for Atletico, scoring 76 goals in La Liga since 2012/13, which is 3rd best behind Messi and Ronaldo, showing that Griezmann will make an impact wherever he is played. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could also fit into the number 10 role and allow Griezmann to play right-wing. A manager such as Jose Mourinho would be able to work out how to fit in a player with such a large amount of talent into his starting 11.
In the 2015/16 season, Griezmann achieved 22 league goals, Martial was Utd’s top scorer in the league with 11 goals. Griezmann also made five assists in La Liga which was only topped by Wayne Rooney with six. Griezmann ended the season picking up the player of the year award, the first player to beat Messi or Ronaldo to the award since they were established in the 2008/09 season.
Since signing the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Manchester United have brought back their fear factor. When opposition defenders saw players such as Ashley Young or Jesse Lingard line up against them, it wouldn’t intimidate them, but now United are recruiting the world’s biggest stars, it’s all they can think about, and Antoine Griezmann would be the final piece to the already star-studded attack.
Memphis Depay seems to be heading out of Old Trafford, leaving another space for an attacker to take, and also leaving the iconic number seven shirt up for grabs, which is of course, the number Griezmann prefers to wear as his idol was the United legend, David Beckham, it seems everything is falling perfectly for this transfer to take place.
It would be quite an expensive deal, potentially breaking the world transfer record which United recently broke for Pogba, but we know Mourinho isn’t afraid to spend and he seems determined to make Manchester United the world beaters that they once were, so come August, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw Antoine Griezmann putting on the famous red shirt.
