The future of Antoine Griezmann has a deadline: five days...

The future of Antoine Griezmann has a deadline: five days...

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El propio Griezmann ha dicho en Francia que desvelará su futuro antes del debut de su selección en el Mundial de Rusia | sport

Griezmann has said he will reveal all before France play Australia this weekend

Antoine Griezmann's future is close to being resolved. The first 'soap opera' or the summer is reaching its conclusion and the Atletico Madrid player is set to confirm whether he will accept an offer to remain where he is or move to Barcelona, who have been working on a deal for almost a year.

Everything will happen in the lead up to France's World Cup debut this weekend. Griezmann himself told TF1 that "before the first game I will communicate [my decision]." Les Bleus play Australia in Kazan on Saturday in Group C, which also includes Denmark and Peru. 

ADVICE FROM Deschamps 

Griezmann wants to take part in the World Cup without his future being a talking point. He wants to focus on what he's doing on the pitch, not on his future. France are among the favourites to win the tournament and he hopes to play a big part. 

Reports in France say the national team coach, Didier Deschamps, has advised him to make the decision before the World Cup so it's not a concern during the tournament -- he wants the focus on football. Deschamps takes the same action with all his players before tournaments. That's why Samuel Umtiti was allowed to travbel to Barcelona to sign his new deal last week. Deschamps has previously revealed his strong personality by continually leaving out Karim Benzema, too. 

BARÇA HOPEFUL 

Meanwhile, Barcelona remain hopeful that they will make the signing. They are convinced he will keep to his word. 

The fact he's not said anything in public about wanting to stay at Atletico -- or about accepting a new contract with the Rojiblanco -- gives them further reason to believe he will stick to the agreement. 

Keep in mind, though, the enormous pressure that Atletico have put on the player -- through their president, coach, teammates and supporters -- to stay. 

Even though talks for a while have been ongoing between Antoine and his representative, his sister Simone Maud, have been carried out personally by president Josep Maria Bartomeu, the person who suggested the signing in the first place was Robert Fernandez while he was still Barça's sporting director. He's now left his role for Eric Abidal. 

NEYMAR's EXIT 

Effectively, Robert opened talks with the forward and his sister. The idea to sign Griezmann began last year when Luis Enrique was manager. Knowing that his clause then dropped from 200 million to 100 million in July 2018 boosted that interest. 

Griezmann, in every conversation he's had with Barça this past year, has always shown an interest in making the move to Camp Nou. Beyond financial reasons, because he wants to win trophies and be one of the main men at one of the world's biggest clubs, something he felt could happen after Neymar's exit. That was when he first saw clearly that his future was at Barcelona. Now let's see if he maintains that desire. 

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