Valverde: Griezmann? We’ll see…

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde admits Antoine Griezmann is “a great player” and that “we’ll see what happens” with the Atletico Madrid ace.

Griezmann’s run of 52 days without a goal in La Liga has prompted many to suggest that his time at Atleti is coming to an end, with Mundo Deportivo already claiming Barca have agreed a deal in principle, and Valverde refused to deny his side’s interest in the attacker.

“We have good centre-backs,” he said at a Press conference for Saturday’s match against Leganes, referring to the loss of Javier Mascherano for the next month.

“There are circumstances that you can never foresee. Injuries arise when you least expect them [referring to Mascherano] and for that, we have a big squad.

“We’ll see which centre-backs play, but we have complete faith in Pique, Umtiti and, of course, Vermaelen. We also have the B players.

“Griezmann? He’s a great player, one of those who are being talked about [in the Press], but I’ll stick with our players and we’ll see what happens.

“I’ve lived through the international break with calmness, apart from all the names that have been coming out!

“Any club in the world are open to the possibility of improving their squad. We’re very happy with what we have, but we’re not going to close any doors either.

“Leganes? They’re a team that have conceded only a few goals and in just one of their five home games.

“It’s tough to create chances against them and I see them on a similar wave to Girona.

“They never retreat and they’ll make it complicated for us, but we have a lot to gain because It’s an important game before the Christmas rush.

“We’re on alert. We dropped points at these types of places last season, and that cost us the League.

“It’s not as glamorous to play against Leganés as it is to face Atletico, but we still have to apply ourselves, recognise our opponents and be aware that it’ll be difficult.

“We’re focused on Leganes, they’re the great team that we’ll be facing and we have four days to recover [for Juventus in the Champions League].”

Tags Antoine Griezmann Ernesto Valverde
La Liga - Club News