Griezmann to Barca could trigger huge European transfer merry-go-round

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Last night, news broke that Antoine Griezmann is leaving Atletico Madrid and Sky Sports are claiming a £108m deal to bring the Frenchman to Barcelona is almost done.

What a start to the summer transfer window.

The Catalans, beaten by Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals in such glorious circumstances, have already signed Frenkie de Jong and are closing in on Matthijs de Ligt – so it’s fair to say they took the humbling quite badly!

Those three players will cost Barca well over £200m though, so having also spent monstrous sums on Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele not too long ago – a serious balancing of the books will have to be done.

ESPN claimed a week back following Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona that Coutinho was up for sale and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Chelsea may want to get themselves involved considering they’re selling Eden Hazard to Real Madrid [Express], while Manchester United are also being touted as an option in the Manchester Evening News – which doesn’t surprise us considering they’ll surely try to throw more millions at the wall and see if any of it sticks before next term.

So where do Liverpool fit into all of this?

Well, Jurgen Klopp loves Coutinho as a footballer, but we’d be surprised if the club brought him back – or even tried to. We reckon Phil would prefer an Anfield return to any other English side, but can’t see it happening.

The boss also loves Ousmane Dembele – remember last summer when he hinted that if the wonderkid was on the market he’d be first in the queue? – so this could be an option if Barca decide to keep Coutinho and get rid of the Frenchman instead. After all, someone has to go.

Liverpool do need a versatile, young attacker – and Dembele fits that bill – although his potential asking price and previous attitude problems may be an issue.

Still, we’re in a happy place where we’ve already sorted out most of our squad, and can sit back, relax, and watch the drama play out.

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