What's the story?
It is a well-known fact that Arsenal are looking for options to strengthen their attacking unit. The club wants to make a statement of intent by signing a marquee signing in their quest for a Premier League title after 13 long years.
Antoine Griezmann is being monitored by a number of clubs around the globe with Arsenal being the latest to be interested in luring him to the Emirates according to reports from the Mirror.
In case you didn't know...
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger met with his compatriot, Griezmann during the Euros which were held in France last summer. It was rumoured that Wenger made his case and tried to convince the forward to ply his trade with the Gunners and form a deadly partnership with Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez. But the Frenchman told the former Monaco boss that he and his family are happy in Spain.
The heart of the matter
The situation has changed in the course of six months with Atletico Madrid struggling to mount another challenge for La Liga title. They are sixth in the league table, nine points behind league leaders, Real Madrid. Griezmann feels that he must compete for the top honours in this phase of his career and feels a move abroad after this season makes complete sense. With this being the last season at Vicente Calderon, Griezmann wants to have one last hurrah at the club which made him famous.
Arsenal may offer him a massive deal to join them but are likely to face stiff competition from Manchester United. The Red Devils were rumoured to have met with his agent last week and are willing to offer him £220,000 per week which is higher than his current pay. His contract with the Rojiblancos runs till 2021 and it will take a huge transfer fee to sign him in the summer.
What next?
A tug of war seems to be the future of this deal as the next destination of the third best player of 2016 is going to be the transfer saga of summer 2017. Manchester United can offer much more than Arsenal will eventually do and it is up to the London club hierarchy to decide how much are they willing to spend on the Frenchman. The Gunners are also said to be interested in Torino striker, Andera Belotti but are taken aback by the Italian side's valuation of their striker at £50 million.
Sportskeeda's take
A marquee signing is a must for Arsenal and Wenger to pacify their ever gruntled fan base with this season also going down the same path as before. With Alexis Sanchez holding the club at ransom over a new deal, Wenger needs to sign someone big to prove it to the likes of Sanchez and Ozil that the Gunners are capable of signing truly world class players and competing at the highest level which are the two demands of Sanchez before signing a new contract; higher wage and challenging for trophies.
