LIGA - Laporta on Griezmann: “He wasn’t the player we needed.”

Speaking to Catalan TV channel Onze, Barcelona president Joan Laporta discussed Antoine Griezmann’s spell at the club and whether the Frenchman’s signing was a failure, admitting that the forward was not the player the team needed.

The World Cup winner recently made his return to Atlético Madrid, where he played between 2014 and 2019, in a dramatic deadline day move, returning on loan after a two-year spell with the Catalans with mixed fortunes.

“I think that everyone was expecting more from him, because he gave everything and didn’t have a questionable attitude.”

“We know what kind of player he was and is, he’s a great player. I think he didn’t fit in our system, but I think he showed a very good attitude. I sent him a message wishing him well, because he’s always had the correct attitude. In footballing terms he wasn’t the player we needed. He scored goals – I think the one he scored in last year’s Copa del Rey that we won was very important – but it’s true that he could have given more. But he was under difficult circumstances.”