Transfer Centre

Antoine Griezmann: 'It would be dirty to leave Atletico Madrid now'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 04 June 2017

Antoine Griezmann reveals that he will stay at Atletico Madrid this summer and thinks it would be a "dirty move" to leave after their transfer ban was upheld.

Antoine Griezmann has confirmed that he will stay at Atletico Madrid this summer.

The France international had been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, having previously rated his chances of joining the club as "six out of 10."

However, any potential switch was made more complicated after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban preventing Atletico from registering new players.

The Red Devils have subsequently cooled their interest and Griezmann told French television show Telefoot on Sunday that he recognised that it is now a "hard time" for Atletico.

"The ruling of the CAS has come through. Atletico cannot recruit. With my sporting advisor, Eric Olhats, we decided to stay," the striker said.

"It's a hard time for the club. It would be a dirty move to leave now. We talked to the leaders and we will be back for next season."

Atletico, along with Real Madrid, were handed two-window transfer bans in January 2016 for multiple breaches of global football's rules on the registration of Under-18s and both clubs failed in their appeals to FIFA last September.