Chelsea transfer news: Blues hope lucrative offer will tempt Antoine Griezmann into summer move
Griezmann has fired Atletico Madrid to the Champions League semi-finals with the Spanish side level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea will resume their efforts to sign Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann in the summer and hope that a lucrative offer will be enough to persuade him to move to the Premier League.
Griezmann has fired Atletico into La Liga title contention following Barcelona’s recent slump, and having scored 29 goals in 46 appearances this season, the France international has strengthened his reputation as one of the most prolific forwards currently playing in Europe despite playing in a wide role.
His form has also helped Atletico reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second time in three years, but it has also caught the eye of Chelsea who believe he can help lead the Blues back into European football.
Chelsea will miss out on qualification for both the Champions League and Europa League and will be a notable absentee in European football next season, but The Mirror claims that the club still believe that they can talk the 25-year-old into a move regardless.
The club will certainly have the wage budget available to make Griezmann an appealing offer given they are set to free up money from selling Loic Remy as well as ending the loan deals of Radamel Falcao and Alexandre Pato, with all three failing to impress during their spells with the club.
However, they will not enter talks regarding a swap deal involving Diego Costa, despite the striker reportedly favouring a move back to Atletico after growing unhappy with life in London.
Chelsea will also see their financial firepower boosted by the new television rights deal that will kick in at the start of the 2016/17 season, with Premier League clubs expected to flex their muscles in the transfer market when it reopens in the summer.
One person who has warned Griezmann against leaving Atletico though is former France striker Jean-Pierre Papin. The 52-year-old claimed that Griezmann has no reason to leave the Spanish club given they are challenging for all trophies available to them, and believes a move to a club who are not playing in Europe would be unexplainable.
“To leave when Atletico play in the Champions League every year, fight in La Liga with Barcelona and Real Madrid and he plays every game wouldn’t make sense,” Papin said last month.
“I wouldn’t understand why you’d leave to have more competition at another club.
Atletico is a great club and I wouldn’t think of leaving in the summer.
“Loyalty is important to Griezmann, and if you’re already playing for a great club, why leave?”
Atletico meet Bayern Munich next week in the first of their Champions League semi-final encounters, with a place in the Milan final next month on the line against either Real Madrid or Manchester City.
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