ANTOINE GRIEZMANN has confirmed that he wants to end his career in America after his contract with Barcelona expires.
The 30-year-old forward is preparing to make his 50th consecutive start for France today against Hungary and help them seal a place in the last-16 of Euro 2020.
He headed to the Nou Camp from Atletico Madrid back in 2019 and has only helped the Catalans to one Copa del Rey during that period.
Griezmann will be desperate to lift both LaLiga and the Champions League for the club – but it appears he has another aspiration he wants to fulfil before hanging up his boots.
Speaking ahead of his country’s clash, he said: “My contract with Barcelona runs until June 2024 and after that I think it will be the right time to go to the United States.
“I love this country, this culture, the NBA and the desire for discovery guides me, but I also have a family.
“I would love to end my career there but being good on the pitch and winning MLS, not coming in with nothing left in your legs and looking like nothing else on the pitch.”
Meanwhile, ahead of winning his 93rd French cap, his national boss Didier Deschamps hailed Griezmann as ‘one of the greatest’ ever.
“He (will) beat a record, you’re right,” Deschamps told a press conference.
“Above and beyond the fact that he’s playing in consecutive games, and wonderfully so for him, for all his game-volume, he may not be 20 years old anymore, but he takes very good care of himself.”
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Deschamps, who guided Griezmann and Les Bleus to World Cup joy in 2018, added: “He’s a professional and he’s managed to avoid the different injuries that he could have had. The statistics speak for themselves.
“You can see the influence that he has for the French national team, through the goals that he scores, through his assists.
“If we then add to that the capacity that he has to change the game, to get stuck in when we need to defend when we don’t have the ball, he’s one of the greatest players of all time, both in Europe and worldwide.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
