Barcelona dressing room satisfied with Griezmann's 'NO'

Antoine Griezmann's decision not to sign for Barcelona is a setback for the club because it leaves them without one of the world's best players. The dressing room had given the OK to the signing to the point that even Lionel Messi said in an interview with SPORT that "to win the Champions League again, Barça need the best players. And Griemzann's one of them." It was a clear message ahead of the Atletico Madrid's forward's potential arrival, although he added: "I don't know if he's the priority." 

The show put on by Griezmann, with some players in the dressing room complicit in it, like Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti, has had a reaction not just in the boardroom, but also among the first team players. 

According to sources in the first team dressing room, the players didn't like the way Griezmann managed the decision over his future, converting it into a show with a documentary included. With this spectacle, with the way he's used Barça to prolong the show, the dressing room feel it's not the way a Barça player should act. An important number of the players did not approve of any of it and celebrated the final decision. "Now someone else will come in," they're saying. 

It's worth remembering recent incidents which demonstrate what Barça's players feel is appropriate or inappropriate. For example, they didn't accept Umtiti using the club's badge during a celebration of a goal which he hadn't scored to show his commitment to the club while negotiating a new contract. They didn't like some of Neymar's or Dani Alves' celebrations, either, considering them over the top. The dressing room wants players with a low profile and they don't like it when people break the unwritten rules. Therefore, there was a clear sentence on the Griezmann show. 

There are even those that are not impressed with Pique's participation. "It's another example of why Geri is not a captain in this dressing room, because he doesn't represent us."