Griezmann to join Barcelona?

Would be a strange move unless they’re moving Suarez on as it’ll be tough to fit them all in the team.

Can’t really argue with it can see the appeal for him.
 
I know the appeal of Barca is massive but from memory, and correct me if I'm wrong here but when at Sociedad and earlier in his A. Madrid career he was played as a RW before moving to the No. 9 or 10 role over the last year or two.

Messi plays on the RW and obviously that horrible vermin plays up front as the No. 9, they don't play with a 10 I don't think so would they play him on the left?

As JSP says, get that transfer ban in but as per usual, the Spanish will appeal it and it won't happen until January so they will still buy him.

My worry is we will go after Bale, which for me would be another case of him being fit 1 game in every bloody 2 months.
 
He was a wide player at socieded but he's become a striker or "number 10" since moving to Atletico basically he's become the world class player he's now judged to be based no his performances as a striker normally playing off a target man at Atletico as they play a 4-4-1-1. I think we saw at Euro 2016 that he's an alright winger but he's a world class player when he moves in the centre... a bit like Lingard ;) haha!!!

Barca I think have changed the formation a bit this season Suarez still plays up front but Messi plays a bit deeper now probably similar to how Atletico play but obviously they look to keep possession and Messi plays off Suarez rather than sit deep and counter like Atletico do.

I think Barca want some options in attacking positions they've suffered this season Neymar left and Dembele came in but he was out for 3 months and there are concerns that Suarez isn't the player he was when he joined and is maybe going past his prime so they will need to have the option to rotate. Both Suarez and Messi have hit 30 and both do a lot of travelling to play internationals so I think they want to have a bit more depth up front.

My guess is they're looking at putting Messi back into the midfield 3 to replace Iniesta which would create space for Griezmann in the attacking 3 with Dembele & Suarez, I reckon they've given up on Coutinho who will probably end up going to PSG now.

The appeal for Griezmann would be huge while he was born in France when you hear him talk he says he almost considers himself half Spanish because he's been there so long and Barca would probably be the dream move for him as politically the move to Real Madrid is tricky.

The more I think back to it the more I think he was never really that keen on coming to us and was looking for an excuse not to come and the transfer ban gave him that and the way things have played out there's now space for him at Barca and I think they've always been his preference over the move to Utd. The only chance Utd have is by offering him more money than Barca because their wage bill is already maxed out so I doubt he'll be getting offered superstar wages.

I think we'll go for Bale and it'll either be a fantastic move or like you say @Edgy1968 it'll be a massive mistake because based on his injury record paying £100m for him and paying his £500k a week wages if a massive gamble for a player who's best years are arguably behind him. I'd much rather we find out who Madrid want to buy to replace him and just throw money at that player instead.
 
As a Welshman, I obviously really like Bale but I think it would be a big risk to pay big money for him and then also pay him big money on top of that with probably a 5 year deal.
 
I did read Bale will go for about £55m

It is a risk, I think he was injured a lot at Spurs too. You'd get the money back but I am also unsure about the amount of performances. Giggs turned the injuries around though, so it is possible.

I'd be happy for him to come, but it's not really one of the buys I'm thinking of.
 
Griezmann and wife have 'reservations' about Manchester - Football365

Always felt in the summer that there was more to this than loyalty to Atletico if he really wanted to come he'd have screwed them over and came because the buyout clause meant there was nothing they could do about it.

Despite being French I'm pretty sure Griezmann moved to Spain when he was quite young so I can see why he'd have reservations about leaving and playing in another country. The Spanish lads who came over in the 00's didn't come to play in the PL they came because the wages were much better then especially when you factor in the strength of the £ compared to the euro back then. However, once the Spanish clubs came for them and matched the wages they were all straight back to Spain.

Griezmann would earn a truck load of money at Barca and he'd be playing with better players in a league he already knows the only thing Utd can do is offer him more money.
 
Looks like all our eggs regarding a 10 are either 100m at Juve for Dybala but after the Coutinho transfer will that now be 150m as Dybala imo is the better player.

Or do you take a chance on Ozil for free and just throw a shed load at his signing on fee to fend of Juve and a few of the others?

Or do we stick with Jesse Messi and sell him to Barca in 18 months time for 200m lol
 
It's hard to tell where our eggs are because 99% of what is reported in the press about Utd transfers is nonsense.

I think it's pretty clear we wanted Griezmann last summer and a deal was in place but I think he decided he didn't want to go and Utd have probably moved on to other targets now. Barca losing Neymar the way they did even with the money they've spent on Coutinho/Dembele have created an opportunity for him that probably wasn't their last summer no top striker would've joined Barca with that front 3 in place because you weren't getting in the team with Neymar gone there's a void to fill and Griezmann probably thinks it's the best place to be. The only issue I see is can Barca afford to add him onto the wage bill?

Our problem positions seems to change almost daily because someone has a couple of dodgy games we now need a number 10 or a couple of good games suddenly we don't need a left back.
 
Not sure mate, they always seem to be struggling with their finances Barca, every report is that they are struggling to tie down their big players due to the structure of their wages etc.

See reports in France saying Moura is close, 20m quid, so not sure if that is a stop gap or if he will be given a chance to be our RW. That's it mate, two weeks ago it was left back and no 10 but over the last two or three games (Lingard over the last month) but Shaw and Lingard have been our best players lol ah I dunno, leave it all to Jose and keep your fingers crossed haha
 
I don't think they struggle to but players but where they were struggling was the wage bill was out of control and not really sustainable.

Their wage bill is huge mainly because of the mega deals the front 3 from last season were on Neymar is now gone but Messi has had a big pay rise and Dembele/Coutinho coming in will have probably swallowed up all of that money. The change in that tax loophole regarding image rights has probably hit them as well because players will now expect them to make up that reduction in their take home pay, why do you think Ronaldo is trying to bully Madrid for a new deal.

I think the reality is right now our team can be improved in every position apart from 2 which are De Gea & Pogba everyone else can be upgraded because they're not getting into a side who has ambitions of winning the CL. That's why the list keeps changing because we don't have anyone else who's being consistent through the whole season that their spot is locked down and belongs to them. Valencia is probably a locked down position but there's also the concern over how long he can carry on at his current level as he's well into his 30's.

Utd need a perfect summer where we buy 4 maybe 5 players who all hit the level required and settle in we can't really afford mistakes if we want to catch up as we've been left way behind by the elite Juventus, City, PSG have all jumped ahead of us over the last 10 years. Utd can still punch their weight off the pitch but on the pitch we've been punching way below it for the last 5 years and it might take another 5 years to get us back to where we should be which is competing for the Champions League as one of the elite teams.

If Griezmann goes to Barca we'll probably end up spunking £100m on Arda Turan & Andre Gomes to help them pay for him. Ha!
 
Mohamed Bouhafsi: "Will Griezmann announce its decision about its future in early July"

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I will not be drawn in by these Griezmann rumours again. It looked good for last summer but then he stayed at Atletico.

Think he’ll either go to Barca or stay where he is. Not totally sure we’ll be in for him, although it would be a great signi.... nope not being drawn in.
 
The reports are that Atletico have offered him a new deal offering more money than Barca will offer but I guess the attraction for Griezmann will be the titles he could potentially win at Barca.

Still not sure where he fits in with Coutinho, Dembele, Messi, Suarez already there and some rumours were that he thought do 1 more year with Atletico then replace Saurez next summer as he's starting to slow down. That said Barca only wait for so long.

Personally I don't think he ever really wanted to come to Utd if he really wanted to join he'd have done the dirty on Atletico and joined us it wasn't his fault they got themselves a transfer ban so I think it's a straight choice for him stay with Atletico or join Barca.
 
Still not sure where he fits in with Coutinho, Dembele, Messi, Suarez

I think they are trying to get Coutinho to play in more of a central 3? And I'm not sure they've been completely sold on Dembele? Not that they are giving up on him but he's a raw talent, which given the money paid for him is ridiculous. So I think there's a spot in there for Griezmann and he'd make that team even stronger. But yeah it's a lot of attacking pieces to fit.
 
I think they are trying to get Coutinho to play in more of a central 3? And I'm not sure they've been completely sold on Dembele? Not that they are giving up on him but he's a raw talent, which given the money paid for him is ridiculous. So I think there's a spot in there for Griezmann and he'd make that team even stronger. But yeah it's a lot of attacking pieces to fit.

It's strange really because they've kind of played 4-4-2 this season with Messi off Saurez and dropping really deep almost as a 3rd midfielder at times then a kind of tight midfield 4, that could be a result of the injury to Dembele meaning they didn't really have wide players as their backup was Delofeu. Losing Neymar the way they did really hit them for 6 they couldn't really react quickly enough once it happened they probably got a bit lucky in La Liga that both Madrid sides were well off the pace this season in the league and it probably only really showed in CL. They were lucky to beat Chelsea over 2 legs and good but not great Roma side were the better side over the 2 legs against them.

Be interested to see if they go back to 4-3-3 next season and would they be really brave and play Messi as part of the 3 with Coutinho leaving a spot in the front 3 for Griezmann.

That's sort of FIFA level attacking formation but if any club would try it then it would be Barca and I imagine Busquets would be having nightmares about it haha!

You'd think with Iniesta gone and Busquets/Rakatic starting to struggle that they'd be looking at reinforcing the midfield this summer rather than the front line.
 
I saw the Griezmann to united rumours were in full flow yesterday, to take the RW spot :-/

Apparently a news agency two weeks ago said we were getting a sleeve sponsor (they did quote the name but I forgot, some American kitchen co.) and getting Griezmann, and part 1 happened yesterday
 
Unless we are going back to 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 there is no point going for Griezmann. 100m to play a guy out of position would be a complete waste of time and money if we need a RW sign a RW FFS!

I think he'd be a great partner for Lukaku up top playing just off him but that then creates the what do we do with Pogba problem as he can't play in a midfield 2 so unless he gets stuck on the right of the 3 in behind you just can't fit all the pieces where they should be.

If we are going big for any attacking player this summer it will be Bale.
 
I think Jose is looking at 4231

Matic Fred

Pogba Griezmann Sanchez

Lukaku


Nice, we/I can dream
 
Yeah but then you're putting Pogba out of position like Mata was and leaving your right side exposed defensively the team just wouldn't be balanced.

If Utd are going for an attacking player this summer it has to be a specialist who plays right side moving the pieces around again makes no sense to me especially when we saw with a lot of the results later in the season that the 4-3-3 seems to work quite well for us.

Getting Griezmann & Pogba in the same team is the same problem the French national team have to have Pogba at his best you need to play 3 in midfield to have Griezmann at his best you need a target man for him to play off. Unless we got 3-5-2 you can't really accomodate both.
 
Pogba needs to learn to play more than one position then, ridiculous.

I'd drop anyone and play anyhow to get Griezmann
 
If we signed Griezemann then Sanchez would have to go back over to the right.

Fred Matic Pogba

Sanchez Lukaku Griezemann

Is the only way I could see it working
 
Pogba can play multiple positions as can Griezmann but they are world class in 1 position which is why clubs have paid top dollar for them so when you buy these players it should be to put them in their best positions.

@IDFD even in that setup you end up with 2 players out of position in Griezmann & Sanchez for me it's just one to many it would give us lots of options but someone would need to bench and I still think we'd need someone who can play from the right effectively. If we need someone to play on the right of the front 3 sign someone who does that job currently like Bale or Willian or Mahrez or Sterling or Salah. Obviously 2 of those players are ridiculous shouts but you get my point.

I also don't think we should waste anymore time with Griezmann if he wanted to come he should've come last summer I don't buy that loyalty to Atletico line if he really wanted to be here then he'd have come.
 
I think Jose is looking at 4231

Matic Fred

Pogba Griezmann Sanchez

Lukaku


Nice, we/I can dream
I think eventually it will have to be this because Griezmann puts up the scoring figures to deserve a more central role and works hard defensively whereas Pogba is more creative but he seems to break well when he is out wide than he does through the centre and will be allowed to drift centrally too. What concerns me is the lack of explosiveness in that front three because we need dribbling and pace at least coming from one flank.
 
Yeah but then you're putting Pogba out of position like Mata was and leaving your right side exposed defensively the team just wouldn't be balanced.

If Utd are going for an attacking player this summer it has to be a specialist who plays right side moving the pieces around again makes no sense to me especially when we saw with a lot of the results later in the season that the 4-3-3 seems to work quite well for us.

Getting Griezmann & Pogba in the same team is the same problem the French national team have to have Pogba at his best you need to play 3 in midfield to have Griezmann at his best you need a target man for him to play off. Unless we got 3-5-2 you can't really accomodate both.
I agree with this we need a winger more than we need a support striker and there is a risk that bringing in Griezmann in this unbalanced side could affect his output and ultimately his confidence resulting in us getting half the player on ridiculous wages like we did with Mata. Then there is Sanchez where do we play him when it can be argued that he needs to play off a target man like Griezmann himself in a two striker system? I would think that signing Zaha would serve us better because he has pace, dribbling and crossing needed to provide something different in our front line.
 
We need a proper winger to give us width and great crosses. Griezmann isn't that man
 
Yep round pegs for round holes is my moto this summer we've got to stop trying to squeeze everyone in trim the fat and get people playing in their proper positions and that includes signing proper full backs not converted wingers and proper wide forwards not number 10's who won't do the defensive work under this manager you need guys out wide who are happy to graft.
 
If Griezemann is available you sign him. I don't even care if that means selling Martial/Lukaku/Sanchez whoever needs to go. The guy is 27 in his peak and an absolute star and he does the hard graft to when he has to.
 
We need a proper winger to give us width and great crosses. Griezmann isn't that man
A right winger completes our attack so we will see an overall improvement in forward areas particularly if that winger is as fast and dangerous as Nani was in 2010. Teams won't have the luxury to double up on Sanchez/Martial on the left. That and the much needed upgrades at both fullback positions is needed more than Galactico signings we will try to fit in an already lopsided attack.
 
If Griezemann is available you sign him. I don't even care if that means selling Martial/Lukaku/Sanchez whoever needs to go. The guy is 27 in his peak and an absolute star and he does the hard graft to when he has to.

I agree, sell whoever needs to be sold to get him in the side. I think come the end of the world cup he will have reinforced to everyone how good he is, and I imagine Barca will throw the money at him they need to.
 
If Griezemann is available you sign him. I don't even care if that means selling Martial/Lukaku/Sanchez whoever needs to go. The guy is 27 in his peak and an absolute star and he does the hard graft to when he has to.

If we hadn't already taken that decision with Sanchez I could understand it but we did so we are stuck with Sanchez and Lukaku no club would buy them from us for a big transfer fee and take on their massive wages.

If we sign him we have to sell Pogba because they don't fit in a team together just look at the French national team they still haven't really worked out a system that gets them both in and we'd still need someone to play on the right in a 4-2-3-1 unless people think we can win the league with Lingard playing that role.
 
why the downer on Lingard, he was one of our best players last year.
 
Fine we'll keep all 3 and sell Pogba. And tell Sanchez he's playing down the right. Simples!

Fred Matic

Sanchez Griezemann Rashford

Lukaku
 

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