Atletico Madrid confident they can hold on to Antoine Griezmann as club considers new contract offer

The Spanish side are also awaiting a Thursday-morning decision on whether their appeal of a transfer ban is successful

Atletico Madrid are keen to hold on to their star forward (Getty)

Atletico Madrid believe they can still persuade Antoine Griezmann to stay in Spain rather than move to Manchester United in a deal that would be £84m. The club is also awaiting a Thursday-morning decision on whether their appeal of a transfer ban is successful, a circumstance that could greatly transform the entire summer transfer window.

Atletico will make a concerted last effort to keep Griezmann over the next few weeks and are willing to greatly improve the French star’s current wages - understood to currently be around £6m a year - by offering him a contract of up to £12m a year, despite the striker’s camp having already agreed superior terms with United back in January.

For his part, the 26-year-old again left open the possibility that he could stay in the Spanish capital with his latest comments while on international duty with France.

“I am good at the club,” Griezmann said on Wednesday. “My agents are talking with Atletico and we will see what happens. My future will be decided this summer. If I do leave this summer, the date will depend on the World Cup qualifiers.

“I am happy here. I have spoken with the manager, with Koke and [Diego] Godin. It is in the hand of the president of the club. We will see how it goes.”

Such words represent the latest swing in the saga, on a day that also saw the added intrigue of Griezmann appearing in an advertisement for technology company Huawei, where he receives an incoming call on his watch from a ‘Jose’ only to then hang up.

United sources remain confident that the deal will eventually get done by the end of June, and have a planned timeline in place, although manager Jose Mourinho has privately confided to staff that there is still a lot of work to be done.

All of this takes place against the backdrop of further Atletico tension over whether they will even be able to make signings this summer. In 2016, Fifa imposed a one-year ban on the club registering new players as punishment for breaking rules regarding the transfer of under 18s.

The Atletico hierarchy believe Griezmann is pushing for a pay-rise (Getty)

Atletico made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for sport while agreeing not to sign anyone in January, and a decision is finally due on Thursday morning. It could have a huge knock-on effect on the transfer window across the continent.

Atletico club want to keep Griezmann regardless, but it will naturally be much more pressing to convince him to stay if they are unable to sign replacements, especially since United can merely trigger the player’s £84m buy-out clause regardless of Atletico’s stance.

In the event of the French star moving to Old Trafford, manager Diego Simeone has been aiming to sign both Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Liverpool target Alexandre Lacazette of Lyon. The Argentine would still look to bring in either one of the pair to play alongside Griezmann should he decide to stay.

Atletico have also been looking at United target Andrea Belotti, of Torino, although he has an identical buy-out clause to Griezmann.

Some of the more optimistic figures among the Atletico hierarchy believe that their star striker is just looking for a pay rise from the club, and that they can still persuade him to remain, having recently tied teammates such as Koke down to new deals. Even the best financial package that the Spanish club can offer would still pale next to what United will pay Griezmann, a deal understood to be closer to £280,000 a week and thereby just under £15m a year.