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Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann is linked with a move to Juventus ahead of the summer transfer window.
Antoine Griezmann, 30, hasn’t lived up to the expectations since arriving at Camp Nou from Atletico Madrid a couple of years ago, with Barcelona going two consecutive seasons without winning the LaLiga title. Regardless of an up and down season, the France international has registered 19 goals and 12 assists in 50 outings across all competitions.
After a difficult season under Ronald Koeman, Barcelona president Joan Laporta will aim to revitalize the squad in the summer. The Catalan giants are willing to sacrifice Antoine Griezmann, who has a contract at the club until the summer of 2024. In that case, Juventus could seize the opportunity to sign the 30-year-old Barcelona star, but only if Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the club at the end of the season.
Juventus falling short of the ever-high expectations has put Cristiano Ronaldo’s future in Turin in doubt. Following their lacklustre performances in Serie A, whilst losing the league title to Inter Milan and getting eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 stages by FC Porto, the Portuguese superstar may leave the Juventus Stadium this summer.
Should Ronaldo leave, the Turin powerhouse would like Griezmann to be his replacement. However, the main problem is Juventus are in a crunch financial situation following the Coronavirus pandemic which would make signing Griezmann outright from Barcelona a bit difficult. That’s why the Old Lady would like to sign the French World Cup winner on a one-year loan and cover his full salary.
Also, there has been rumours that Barcelona and Atletico Madrid could get involved in a swap deal that’ll see Griezmann move back to his old club and Joao Felix to Camp Nou. However, such an option looks practically very much improbable.
Juventus have had a season to forget
Juventus have been underwhelming in Andrea Pirlo’s first season and currently sit fifth in the Serie A table. They will miss out on a place in the Champions League next term if AC Milan and Napoli win against Atalanta and Hellas Verona respectively on Sunday.
After a difficult domestic campaign, there was finally a reason to smile for Andrea Pirlo and co. after Juventus defeated Atalanta 2-1 in the Coppa Italia final on Thursday. Yet, despite winning the Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup this season, the recently-turned 42-year-old tactician’s future at the club remains uncertain.
Zinedine Zidane, who is likely to leave Real Madrid in the summer, has been heavily linked in recent weeks with replacing Pirlo in Turin.
Should Juventus go for Antoine Griezmann?
Failure to qualify for Champions League football would surely see Ronaldo leave Juventus. The Portuguese forward is arguably Juventus’ best player at the moment and he has continued to deliver the goods consistently for his team.
Should he end his three-year association, which looks very likely, the Turin giants will need to replace him in the summer. Replacing a player of Ronaldo’s skill-set is almost impossible, but Juventus could start rebuilding their squad next season by signing Antoine Griezmann.
Griezmann is a quality player who hasn’t been able to live up to his full potential at Barcelona for some reason. A return of 12 goals and seven assists from 35 LaLiga outings isn’t good enough for a player of the Frenchman’s talent and ability, especially considering the huge sum spent on him by the Catalan club in 2019.
The 30-year-old could do well with a change of scenario and a move to Juventus, thus, makes sense. However, the potential lack of Champions League football next season could pose a problem for Juventus in signing Griezmann.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
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