Atletico Madrid wants to offload Griezman to accommodate Ronaldo
PSG, who have been trying to offload overpaid, underperforming players of their own, including Neymar, are not interested in taking Griezmann
Atletico Madrid have placed Antoine Griezmann on the transfer market as part of an attempt to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to La Liga.
The Spanish club need to create space on their wage bill to accommodate Ronaldo’s salary and last week offered Griezmann, France forward, to potential employers, including Paris Saint-Germain.
Signed by Barcelona in a €120 million (now about £102 million) release-clause transfer in 2019, Griezmann moved back to Atletico last summer.
The 31-year-old is midway through a two-season loan deal that includes a “compulsory permanent transfer clause” of €40 million.
PSG, who have been trying to offload overpaid, underperforming players of their own, including Neymar, are not interested in taking Griezmann.
The Sunday Times understands that Ronaldo has been receptive to the idea of returning to a city in which he established a host of goalscoring records across his nine seasons at Real Madrid.
In addition to Atletico providing a platform to compete in the Champions League for a 20th consecutive campaign and for La Liga’s national title, the 37-year-old has been impressed by the head coach Diego Simeone’s eagerness to work with him.
After requesting to be allowed to leave for a Champions League club in the present transfer window Ronaldo has yet to train with Erik ten Hag, the new Manchester United manager. Personal reasons are an important factor in the Portugal international’s transfer request; one that Ten Hag has so far failed to persuade him to withdraw.
United have handled the situation with unusual care; Richard Arnold, the new chief executive, permitting Ronaldo’s representatives to speak with Chelsea while emphasising the club’s intention to retain their most accomplished footballer.
For his part, Ronaldo has underlined the importance of securing a club where he can rewrite his personal Champions League record for appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42) by rejecting a €300 million (£255.3 million) proposal to spend his next two years in Saudi Arabia’s Pro League.
Chelsea’s approach to Ronaldo has been driven by the club’s newly anointed “chairman, co-controlling owner and interim sporting director” Todd Boehly. Instead of spending heavily on the forward, however, Thomas Tuchel, the head coach, has asked Chelsea’s new ownership group to focus on strengthening his defence.
Chelsea recruited the Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli last week, and a deal has been agreed with Sevilla for their long-term target Jules Koundé, though Barcelona are attempting to gazump the London club for a second time this summer by adding the France international’s signature to that of Raphinha.
Chelsea have also spoken to the PSG centre-back Presnel Kimpembe, who has asked to be allowed to explore options. While the French champions are happy to retain the athletic left-footed central defender, they would accept an offer in the region of £60 million for Kimpembe, who has also been approached by Juventus.
