Antoine Griezmann had a busy summer, committing his future to Atletico Madrid and winning a World Cup with the French national team. With his immediate future settled, the superstar forward shed some light on where he would like to finish his career.
Griezmann cited the United States as his preferred destination of choice in a recent interview with French publication L’Equipe. He even went so far as to name the markets he would like to play in.
“If he (David Beckham) wants me in his club, then I’ll go. I want to finish my career in the US,” Griezmann said. “I don’t know yet if it’s going to be in Miami or LA. They are two great cities. I like the mentality and the show culture of the United States.”
Griezmann isn’t like to make the move to MLS anytime soon, not after signing a new deal with Atletico Madrid this summer that runs through the 2022/2023 season. Griezmann will be 32 by then.
What do you think of this development? See Griezmann playing in Miami or LA? Think he’ll arrive before 2023? Where would you like to see him play in MLS?
Share your thoughts below.
Ehh this is just to help Beckham get his team. Get a list of stars who only will play in Miami in 5 years or so.
I hate these articles
Same. Why do we still act surprised that international soccer players see the US as a great place to wind down their careers? Every time we act like a tweener at at Bieber concert about a top player showing interest in MLS, it makes us look needy and pathetic. Until they sign a contract, who cares?
Anyone think it was just a coincidence that David moyes was at the U.S. Brazil game or is he in line for some talks about the job
so suppose in 2023 he “chooses” la. and suppose i dunno orlando is at the top of the allocation order then. then i think this can be okay if la makes a deal with orlando (gives them money, players and picks) enough to satisfy them for not getting griezmann. no more back room deals. there is a process. let’s follow the rules.
mls is single entity. incoming new players are supposed to sign with the league. they’re not supposed to choose the club. after signing with the league, it will be announced to all the clubs that this player is incoming. then there will surely be some wheeling and dealing in the allocation order amongst the interested clubs. and when that’s all done then whichever club is first in the allocation order will have first rights to this player, yes? but no, ordinarily, incoming new players are not supposed to choose the club/city.
Jones was a bizarre deal, because he wanted so much money they took him out of the allocation process because teams couldn’t afford him. The Fire wanted him, but didn’t want to pay his asking price, while negotiating with the Fire, New England decided if that was the price they wanted him. Without a clear method of who had the rights since both were willing to pay and both wanted him, they came up with the coin flip.
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Now it goes by which team files to add the player first so Jermaine would have went to Chicago. MLS has tried to make it as transparent as possible, except teams discovery lists are kept secret from the public I guess for bargaining reasons.
He’s not a US international or a former MLS player so he isn’t part of the allocation process. A team could put him on their “discovery list” in which LA would have to pay them a flat fee of 50,000 in TAM, if Orlando made him a reasonable offer compared to other players of his ability. Which really seems like robbery because Orlando didn’t really discover Griezman on the sandlots of Paris, but it gives everyone a shot to sign players even if they can’t afford them. Yeah, parody.
oh but jermaind jones was different because he was a us national team player, is it right?
so is this player really free to choose any club/city he wants?
to clarify my meaning, griezmann is a special player, world class. it would be beneficial to the entire league i’m sure if he were to come. and he probably doesn’t want to live in a cornfield (no offense). i “get” that. he already said he wants miami or la.
so for the good of the whole league, if commissioner garber wants to make this special player a very special offer and let him choose the club/city, then i think that can be okay as long as the total deal includes compensation to whichever club was at the top of the allocation order at the time the deal took place.
and the league commissioner should extend this offer publicly. and this deal should be executed openly. no more coin flips in the back room of the board room.
Jones was special because very few teams who wanted to sign him had a DP spot available. Then while negotiating with Chicago, New England decided they wanted him too. So the league had no rules for how to break the tie, hence the coin flip. Now it goes by who puts the player on their discovery list first, in case of tie the team with the lower point total wins. The league did exactly what you asked after Jones and Drogba to be more transparent.
good stuff, johnny_razor. tie breaker is total points? as in league standing points? or are there some kind of discovery system points?
Both EJ and Jones exposed similar glitches. The buyer and the seller have to meet on price, and I know in EJ’s case the “League” signed him but it turned out no one wanted him at that salary. The proper response is either the “League” doesn’t sign players, or the league creates some sort of quasi-auction process where they find a meeting between the player’s salary floor and teams in the allocation order. In other words, the player gives a minimum acceptable salary and the first team in the allocation order willing to accept that secures their services. But since parity is one of the best features of the league I don’t think players should be able to dictate their landing spot.
Since most these players are DPs I believe basically the player and club agree to the terms and the league writes up the contract. I don’t think they sign anyone without a buyer anymore.