Barcelona head coach Xavi has today provided his take on why Antoine Griezmann’s stint with the club didn’t pan out as hoped.
As much of course comes as Barcelona finalise preparations in an effort to minimise frontman Griezmann’s attacking impact on Sunday night.
The Blaugrana are set to make the trip to the Wanda Metropolitano in 24 hours’ time, for a highly-anticipated La Liga clash with Atlético Madrid.
And Griezmann, despite remaining short of full fitness, is expected to go on to play a central role in the fixture.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of not only the threat posed by the Frenchman, but also his time plying his trade in Catalunya’s capital, was put to the aforementioned Xavi.
Griezmann, of course, lined out in Barcelona’s colours from 2019 to 2021.
And though the widespread consensus was that the 32-year-old was not exactly at his best across his time at the Camp Nou, Griezmann was also not at all helped by the less-than-deal conditions which Barca, as a club, found themselves in.
In turn, Xavi was keen to reiterate precisely that on Saturday, adamant that the Atlético talisman’s early exit came for purely financial reasons:
“We decided to let Antoine Griezmann leave just because of the financial situation. The club had to let him go.”
“Griezmann is a player that I like a lot, but he left for that reason.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
