JAKARTA - Antonie Griezmann finally opened his voice about his relationship with Lionel Messi. The two players were deemed not getting along at Barcelona after comments from the former agent and uncle of the French striker.
Griezmann admits that his decision to reject Barcelona's offer in 2018 was very unfortunate for Lionel Messi. However, in the end the French striker joined the Camp Nou from Atletico Madrid in 2019.
Griezmann said the two had a long conversation when he finally joined Barca.
"When I signed with the club, I apologized for postponing the move and said I would not join Barcelona," Griezmann said in an interview with Jorge Valdano quoted by Antara from Goal on Tuesday, November 24.
"I told Lionel Messi that I will give everything on the pitch for the club."
"I spoke to Leo when I arrived and he told me that when I first turned down the opportunity to join, he was not happy because he had asked for it in public."
Griezmann is still not at his best at Barca and the situation is made worse by off-field disturbances.
His former agent Eric Olhats and his uncle Emmanuel Lopes have caused controversy by saying that Griezmann had a negative relationship with Messi.
The French national team player denied this and said that he had no more contact with the two.
"He (Olhats) has been very important in my life, but I don't have a relationship with him anymore," said Griezmann. "I stopped seeing him since I got married. I invited him to the wedding day, and he didn't come. That's why I stopped being in a relationship with him."
"My uncle doesn't know how football works. And in the end, the reporters got the statement from him. I told Leo that I never spoke to them, I don't even have my uncle's phone number."
"My parents don't talk to Eric either, so who will talk to him? He can do a lot of damage, and cause trouble in the dressing room."
Griezmann is well aware that the best way to deal with criticism is to do well on the pitch. He said he still had to adapt to Barcelona.
"I still need time to adapt, because we have played in three different systems with three different coaches and the players need time to adapt to me and vice versa."
If given time, Griezmann believes he can prove himself worthy of being carried off by Barcelona from Atletico Madrid at an expensive price of up to 120 million euros (around Rp2.08 trillion).
Barcelona are currently 13th in the Spanish league standings 12 points behind leaders Real Sociedad.
They have a better position in the Champions League with three wins from three games, which puts them at the top of Group G and will face Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday morning WIB (25/11).
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