Atletico chief blasts Barcelona over Griezmann pursuit
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he said atletico would be demanding compensation from barcelnoa should the player exercised his right to nullify his contract due to their pressure throughout the season1 atletico madrid chief miguel angel gil marin attacked barcelona on tuesday over their pursuit of highly-prized striker antoine griezmann saying he was fed up with the catalan clubs attitude1 the atletico ceo said the clubs stance was very clear1 not once have we negotiated for griezmann nor do we have any intention to do so he said in a statement issued on the teams official website1 a few months ago i personally expressed to barcelonas president that our player isnt for sale nor are we going to sell him he continued1 at the same time i let him know that his inappropriate conduct was against the integrity of the competition1 the uncertainty over griezmanns future could not have come at a worse time for atletico as they prepare for next weeks europa league final against marseille1 marin added were fed up with barcelonas attitude1 that a president player and a board member speak the way theyve done about the future of a player with an existing contract and just a few days before disputing a european final is an absolute lack of respect towards atletico1 marin issued his strongly worded rebuke hours after a spanish radio station reported that barcelona were poised to pay the french internationals 100 million-euro release clause1 he finished off by declaring enough is enough. i hope this statement serves its purpose and that us atletico fans can enjoy this moment and prepare ourselves for a final like we should1 marins plea followed a report by cadena cope radio station that barcelona have told atletico madrid they are going to pay antonie griezmanns get out clause. and atletico know the player will be leaving at the end of the season1 that came after atletico president enrique cerezo refused to clarify griezmanns future after domestic media suggested cerezo had met the player for dinner in a bid to persuade the frenchman to stay at atletico with the promise of a bumper new contract1 cerezo has denied meeting griezmann for talks but the atletico president was also not definitive on the 27-year-olds future1 i can tell you one thing antoine griezmann is an atletico madrid player as of today cerezo said1 i cannot tell you anything else because i do not know anything else1 barca were forced in january to deny publicly they had agreed a deal to sign griezmann who has indicated he wants his future resolved before the start of the world cup1 barca coach ernesto valverde on tuesday described griezmann as a great player1 but we have to be very cautious about saying anything about a player that is not ours and making sure we respect our rivals he added1