Will Griezmann be The Hundred Million Pound Man

After Manchester United broke the world transfer record by spending £89 Million on Paul Pogba It made a statement. The rest of the football world took notice that a top Premier league club had out muscled Real Madrid and broken the world transfer record. More importantly it was merely a drop in the ocean of United's yearly turn over. With television rights money escalating year on year it could be reasonably expected the record may be broken again next summer. It may even be the next time the record is broken it will meet or surpass the £100 mark. Premier league clubs are already backed by oil money from the Middle east and Russia. With investment also present from China, America and Thailand there is untold riches among England's elite. 

The player who may well be The Hundred Million Pound Man is Antoine Griezmann. Griezmann is truly a world class player and has demonstrated exactly why. His consistent performances of breathtaking skill and lightning pace strikes fear into defenders. Regular demonstrations of his all round star quality for Atletico Madrid and at international level have brought him to the attention of the world. His intense work rate possibly thanks to the almost machine like organisation and of Diego Simeone's Atletico, combined with a fleet footed and agile ability in possession has made clubs take notice. 

The French winger lit up a other wise dull Euro 2016 by almost dragging the hosts single handedly to their own final. He was the difference between France and other teams at times with 5 goals and the golden boot to show for it. Although France ultimately flopped on their big night in Paris, Griezmann came out of the tournament with his reputation enhanced beyond all expectations. Anyone who wasn't truly aware of his talents before surely is now. Players who star at international level in previous summer tournaments have gone on to make huge moves in the aftermath. But his club Atletico can confidently class themselves among Europe's elite after reaching two Champions league finals in three years. Having been agonisingly edged out on both occasions by bitter city rivals Real Madrid there is a fire in the belly of Simeone to succeed. His continued presence after the latest bitter end to a wonderful season may well have galvanised Griezmann to commit to Atletico for one more season. Having lost two major finals in the space of three months he has extra incentive to avenge the hurt of recent seasons. Griezmann is a key part of a talented Atletico squad which regularly loses one or two of its best players every year. Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Falcao and Diego Costa are among the talent pillaged from Atletico every summer in recent memory. Perhaps a condition of Simeone's decision to stay was to keep all their key men for one last shot at the big prize.

Summer 2017 would be a reasonable expectation for when Griezmann could be on the market. There is only a handful of clubs who could be in a position to prize him from Madrid and it appears England may be the only possible destination. Atletico would simply not do business with Real whatever the offer. A move of such controversy would be simply impossible to do and will always be off the cards. Barcelona's recent excursions with financial matters would appear to rule them out of the running. Atletico seem to prefer not to sell to a direct rival judging by their recent history of player sales. Bayern Munich have never been able to push into the record breaking game when it comes to transfers in recent times and offer little evidence that is going to change. With cash to burn in England and new foreign investment intensifying it is only a matter of time before the first £100M player arrives at a English club. And who could argue that there is a better candidate for the title then Griezmann.

Anthony Kavanagh