Arsenal, Chelsea & Man Utd To Do Battle Over £80m-Rated Striker

The summer transfer window is now closed for another year but it’s not time to look back on those deals that didn’t go through and those that are being lined-up for the future. Today, Man Utd face competition for Antoine Griezmann…

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are ready to battle-it-out over the signature of Atletico Madrid’s £80m-rated striker Antoine Griezmann next summer, according to the Daily Star.

Griezmann has become one of the best strikers in world football since moving to Atletico from Real Sociedad in 2014 and followed up a superb debut season by scoring 32 goals in all competitions for Diego Simeone’s side last campaign.

The 25-year-old carried that excellent form in to this summers European Championship finals where he scored six goals to lead France to the final and was later named as the Player of the Tournament.

Understandably the striker attracted plenty of interest in his signature and was heavily linked with a move to several clubs during the summer transfer window but a deal failed to materialise and Griezmann remained at Atletico when the window slammed shut.

However, the French international has now cast fresh doubt over his future at the Vicente Calderon after parting ways with his agent and installing his father as his new representative.

Griezmann also claimed earlier in the summer that he would reconsider his future if boss Diego Simeone was to leave the club and that has now become a real possibility after the Argentinean coach reduced his contract by two years to 2018.

These things have heightened speculation that Griezmann could look for a fresh challenge next summer and the Daily Star claim that Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd are all ready to battle-it-out over his signature at the end of the season.

However, any deal isn’t going to be easy as the former Real Sociedad attackers contract runs until 2021 so the newspaper suggests that it will take around £80m to persuade Atletico to cash in next summer.

The Daily Star says that United have had Griezmann on their wanted list for some time with the striker lined-up as a possible long-term replacement for Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and there is no doubt the Red Devils have the financial power to pull off what would be a sensational deal.

Chelsea are also understood to have identified Griezmann as a marquee signing next year while Arsenal have been linked with the Frenchman for some time – although there are question marks over whether the Gunners would have the financial resources needed to complete a deal.

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It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how things develop over the coming season but if Simeone does decide to leave the Vicente Calderon then I wouldn’t be surprised if Griezmann was to follow him and I’d love to see him come to the Premier League.