Griezmann tells Atletico he will leave at the end of the season

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann has told the club he wants to leave at the end of the season.

Griezmann, 28, has been with Atletico for five years, during which time he has scored 133 goals and helped the team win the Europa League.

However, in a video released on the club’s social media channels on Tuesday evening, Griezmann confirmed that he has asked to leave.

“After speaking to Simeone and Miguel Angel and the club hierarchy I wanted to immediately tell you, the Atletico fans who have always given me a lot of love that I have taken the decision to leave, to see other things, to have other challenges,” he said.

“The truth is it has been difficult to arrive to this point but I feel it’s what I need to do, I want to thank you for all the support you have given me in these five years, where I won my first trophies.

“I’ve had some incredible moments which I’ll always remember, I’ll always hold Atletico fans in my heart, it’s never easy to make a decision like this,

“Many thanks for everything, I have really enjoyed myself in the last five years, I’ve given everything on the pitch and I’ve always tried to be a good person.

“I have tried to give lots of joy to the fans at the Wanda Metropolitano and to our fans at away games, many thanks from my heart and until next time.”

It is not confirmed where he is going but it is widely expected that he will leave to join Spanish champions Barcelona, who will pay his release clause.

In that documentary, he was again dealing with an offer from Barca before going on to sign a new contract with Atletico that ran until 2023 and had a release clause of €200 million that will reportedly go down to €120 million on July 1.

If he joins Barcelona then Griezmann will be the third big purchase of over €100 million in the last two seasons from the Catalans after Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho.

It has been reported that one of those players, most likely Coutinho, could be sold in order to raise the necessary funds to sign the World Cup winner.