Diego Costa has insisted he believes Antoine Griezmann will remain at Atletico Madrid, because the Frenchman spent so much time begging him to come back to Spain.
Atletico re-signed Costa from Chelsea last summer and the goalscorer has revealed Griezmann called him every day to urge him to return to Madrid.
Griezmann is the subject of intense transfer speculation and is continually linked with a switch to Manchester United and Barcelona.
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But, Costa has dismissed the reports surrounding the future of his team-mate as he cannot envision Griezmann leaving Atletico after he put so much time into luring him back to the club.
‘He knows that we want him, that he is a very important player. He is still with us and he has not told me he is going yet,’ said Costa.
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‘I would be happy for him to stay, everyone has to look for the best for themselves but, in my opinion, the best for him is to stay.’
Costa added: ‘He called me every day to tell me to return to Atletico and now he’s not going to leave me. That cannot be, he is going to stay.’
United and Barcelona are both prepared to spend big to secure Griezmann, who is currently on international duty with France.
Griezmann rejected a move to United last summer in favour of signing a lucrative contract extension with Atletico.
The forward spoke out about his future this week and insisted he does not want to travel to Russia for this summer’s World Cup with the transfer saga still hanging over his head.
‘I want to travel to Russia without this concern,’ he told L’Equipe.
‘It’s not about knowing where I’ll play, but about having the peace of mind if I’m still in one place or another.
Manchester United 2017/18 Fixtures
Swansea (H) – Sat Mar 31
Manchester City (A) – Sat April 7
West Brom (H) – Sun April 15
Tottenham – FA Cup (N) – Sat April 21 or Sun Apr 22
Arsenal (H) – Sun April 29
‘It may be boring, but I have told my sister that, whether I stay or not, this will have to be resolved beforehand [the beginning of the World Cup].
‘What bothers me the most is that everyone asks me about this issue.’
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