"Messi played a part in me not moving to Barcelona", Atletico Madrid and French forward Griezmann reveals

World Cup winning French striker Antoine Griezmann has revealed that he would have loved to move to giant Spanish side FC Barcelona in the summer but he couldn't because of some factors including Lionel Messi. Griezmann told FourFourTwo:

"Was it hard to refuse Barca? It was very difficult,"

"You have Barca who wants you, who calls you, who sends messages.

"But then there is the club where you are, where you are an important player and where they build a project around you.

"[And] subconsciously, being Messi's lieutenant may have played a part.

"But my team-mates and people at the club [Atleti] did everything, they came to talk to me, they increased my salary.

"They did everything to show that it was my home and that I shouldn't leave. It was really complicated time, especially for my wife where I woke her up at 3am to talk about it!