Griezmann asked to leave the club as reports of rift with Messi grow stronger

Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi (L) Antoine Griezmann(Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi (L) Antoine Griezmann(Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

Barcelona are in tatters and the current dressing room environment is one place where you don’t want to place yourself now.

The negativity in the Barcelona dressing room has been fuelled with Messi’s intense desire to leave the club and it reached its peak following the 8-2 drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich. Many scapegoats emerged following that defeat and simply put, Griezmann was one of them. The Frenchman has struggled at Camp Nou since arriving from Atletico Madrid last year and the rumours of him having a rift with Barcelona legend and skipper, Lionel Messi hasn’t helped either. As per Mirror, Griezmann has been asked by Former French footballer Bixente Lizarazu to leave the club.

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Griezmann has been linked with Manchester United and Liverpool in the recent past and the former might be tempted by the prospect of having him over as they have been looking to create a bit more competition in that modified-heavy attack of theirs. Liverpool are in need of a player like Griezmann as well and he could prove to be a great competitor for Thiago, given that Thiago was a part of the side that handed down the 8-2 judgement to Barcelona.

The 29-year-old has got only 11 goals in 42 appearances for the Blaugrana and that is a worrysome stat. Although he has done much better this season, his relative uneasiness in sharing the field with Messi was on display once again as he missed a penalty against Real Betis after already having scored a goal.

His beautiful chip goal against Villarreal last season is just an indication of what Messi and Griezmann could do together, if only there was a perfect sync-up between the two. Unfortunately, these rumours haven’t helped the cause either and by the looks of it, another unsuccessful season at the Camp Nou for the 2018 World Cup winner is on the cards, once again.

There hasn’t been any clarification on Messi’s future at the club as the tailsman looks set for the ultimate departure from his boyhood club following the end of this season. Perhaps, a La Liga title win could persuade him to stay but for that, Barcelona really need to pull up their socks as soon as possible, given that they are currently 8th on the points table, 9 points behind the league leaders in Real Soceidad.

The former French footballer believes that Antoine Griezmann must leave the club if he wants to develop further as a player and grow his career. The 29-year-old however, has denied any reports of a rift between him and the Argentine ace but it remains to be seen how these two beautifully gifted playmakers work their magic, together, this season.