Blues wanted to offer cash plus player for Antoine Griezmann
Atletico Madrid will reject any approach Chelsea make for winger Antoine Griezmann.
According to reports, the Premier League champions were set to offer the Spanish side a player plus cash in order to sign the French winger, but Atletico are refusing to play ball.
Transfer Negotiations
Diego Simeone is desperate to keep hold of his star man and doesn’t want a same scenario as last year, when he lost two key players to The Blues in the form of Diego Costa and Filipe Luis.
However this time around, Chelsea are prepared to give a player to Atletico as well as pay cash up front.
It’s believed Jose Mourinho is willing to offer Mohamed Salah or Luis as part of the deal, which would knock off a substantial amount from the player’s £43million valuation.
Simeone is set to meet with the Atletico board at the end of this week and is expected to tell them to reject all offers from Chelsea for the French winger.
If Chelsea were to offer the £43m up front without adding a player, it could be enough to persuade Simeone, but it’s thought that isn’t an option for the West London outfit.
Rivaled Interest
Griezmann is highly rated around Europe and is also attracting interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
The 24-year-old has only been at Atletico for a year, after moving from La Liga rivals Real Sociedad, but in his debut season, he netted 22 La Liga goals in just 37 games.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
