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Antoine Griezmann has revealed that his initial decision to reject a Barcelona signing upset Lionel Messi, given that the Camp Nou captain had publicly asked the Frenchman to sign for the club.
Since his € 120m move to Barcelona from Atlético de Madrid, Griezmann has been at odds with captain Lionel Messi, which hasn’t helped his obvious struggles on the pitch for the Blaugrana.
Upon his arrival at the Camp Nou, Griezmann admitted that the first thing he did was speak to his new captain, who insisted that he had asked for the Frenchman’s signature before his infamous documentary ‘Decision’ that saw him reject the possibility of moving to Barcelona.
“I spoke with Leo when I arrived,” Griezmann said to the great Jorge Valdano of Real Madrid in the last edition of Universo Valdano, “and he told me when I turned down the first opportunity to go. [to Barcelona], I was screwed because I had asked for it publicly. But he told me he was with me and I notice it every day.
“I wanted to show [in the Decision documentary] that deciding to go to one team or another is very complicated. People thought it was a game and that I was laughing at the fans. I just wanted to show how a player doesn’t know what to do and what to decide. Your wife, your parents, your children talk to you but in the end you decide.
“After the documentary my parents got mad at me because they didn’t understand what I did when filming the documentary. Also, they wanted to see me in Barcelona.”
Criticism has come in Griezmann’s path since he signed for Barcelona, as he has yet to emulate the form shown with Diego Simeone at Atlético de Madrid.
“I accept it because I know we are not seeing the best Griezmann,” said the Frenchman, “but I understand that every time something else comes out I am the first to be there” [criticised].
“In a year and a half I have had three coaches [at Barcelona]. That is not easy. I need time to adapt to my colleagues and they to me. And besides that there are line-up changes.
“Besides, the presidential candidates also talk about me. I don’t think it’s the best thing for me when they talk about whether I’m a good signing or not.”
Griezmann’s best stage in his career came at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, where he won the Europa League in 2018, as well as the UEFA Super Cup, although he was a losing finalist in the 2016 Champions League final.
“It was difficult for me at the beginning,” explained Griezmann. “I came to a club that had just won LaLiga Santander and I had to earn my place through work.
“In fact, it was hard for me to play until December. I was always available to the coach, that’s how I learned and it will always be like that. I will always do what the coach asks me, even if I know it on a personal level, what he asks me hurts.
“With Cholo, each training session was like a match and the level of intensity. Everyone asked me for more: Koke, Gabi, teacher [Oscar] Ortega. In Atleti everyone ran and everyone moved everywhere, and I continue to do so. The costumes were very solid. We would meet to eat when we lost, there would be no bad blood. “
With Griezmann’s former adviser and agent Eric Olhats, along with his uncle Emmanuel Lopes, both making statements about their relationship with Messi, the French world champion sought to clarify the situation.
“I stopped having any relationship with [my former agent Eric Olhats] “Since the day I got married,” Greizmann said. “I invited him to the wedding day and he didn’t come. That’s why I stopped having any relationship with him.
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“My uncle doesn’t know how football works. And in the end, the journalist ended up taking the statement from him. I told Leo that I never speak to them, in fact I don’t even have my uncle’s phone number. “
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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