Fabrizio Romano: The Curious Case Of Antoine Griezmann

The situation of Antoine Griezmann is certainly one of the most particular at an international level.

Yes, because the French star has been at the center of a worrying and complicated La Liga transfers case for Barcelona and Atletico for weeks: where will his future be? How will the agreement for 2023 be completed?

Fabrizio Romano articles

It all started at the end of summer 2021, when Atletico Madrid and Barcelona reached an agreement for Griezmann: a two-year loan, buy option clause for 2022 but also in addition, a € 40m mandatory clause for Atletico Madrid to sign Griezmann only in case he would have played more than 50% of the minutes in the matches where he is available.

This is where the dispute between Barcelona and Atletico arises: the Catalan club claims that having Griezmann played 81% of the minutes in his first year on loan, Antoine should be considered an Atletico player for 2023 with a consequent payment of €40m.

Atletico Madrid instead let it be known that this second season must also be part of the count in the minutes that Griezmann must play, which is why the Frenchman has so far often entered the field from minute 60 onwards so as not to be forced to activate the €40m clause next June.

A very difficult situation to manage because Griezmann is very happy at Atletico Madrid, he loves the club, the city, the fans and would like to give his best for Atleti as he is doing despite this crazy situation.

On his side, Barcelona are demanding € 40m while Atletico Madrid claim that the activation of the clause has not been reached precisely because this second season must be counted in the total of Griezmann's games. Who will be right?

While rumors of possible legal issues have been filtering for weeks to clarify everything between the two clubs, there has been for days the idea of trying to find an agreement in order to avoid even more dangerous situations for the clubs and for Griezmann himself.

The ideal for all parties involved would be to negotiate a lower price for Griezmann and thus complete an agreement in advance, so avoiding Diego Simeone the situation of using Griezmann almost always after the 60 minute.

This would also give Atletico Madrid more solutions on the pitch, and also more guarantees for Barcelona in receiving money for the Frenchman, avoiding reaching 2023 with a situation still in doubt for Antoine that does not fit into Xavi Hernandez's plans.

An agreement has not yet been reached, assured Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo a few days ago; the two clubs are in contact to find a solution but they are not yet at the final stages.

For this reason, there are already many rumors about Griezmann's future, from the Premier League to the solutions in Serie A.

Those close to Antoine guarantee that he is 100% focused on Atletico Madrid, does not want to be distracted by this particular situation and hopes everything can be solved. as soon as possible.

There are no negotiations underway with other clubs, not least because Griezmann's salary is very high and it would complicate everything to include a third club in this story.

First, everything needs to be resolved between Barça and Atletico Madrid, a crazy market situation that has never been heard before and which is also affecting Simeone's choices. But clarity is a priority for everyone.

*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

September 21, 2022
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Fabrizio Romano is an Italian sports journalist. He was born in 1993, he lives in Milan and has over 30 million followers in total on the major social networks.

 

He collaborates with 888sport, CBS Sports, Sky Sport, The Guardian and has been a transfer market expert since 2011. He will take care of a column dedicated to some "Behind the Scenes" of transfers.

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Sea The Stars & His Unprecedented 3-YO Season

From his victory in the 2000 Guineas through to his impressive rout of an Arc field, it’s highly unlikely that any other horse will ever come close to emulating Sea The Stars’ three-year-old season in 2009.

To this very day he is still lauded as the greatest three-year-old to ever grace the turf.

John Oxx’s campaign with Sea The Stars broke new ground. The horse was the first to complete the 2,000 Guineas-Derby-Arc treble and he absolutely destroyed the rest of his comtempories over all the race distances between 1m and 1m4f. 

Six Steps To Greatness

May 2009 – 2000 Guineas (Newmarket)

Sea The Stars already looked like a potential superstar with an impressive 1½ victory under Mick Kinane in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Owned and bred by the Tsui family, Sea The Stars started at odds of 8-1 for the mile Classic, a rather generous online horse racing betting price that his followers would never witness again.

His next race would be the Derby, for which he was quickly made favourite for the famous Epsom showpiece.

June 2009 – Derby (Epsom)

Sea The Stars became the first horse since Nashwan to land the Derby after winning the 2,000 Guineas. 

The morning favourite in the papers was overtaken in the betting by Fame And Glory, who was sent off the 9/4 favourite in our sports betting, but it was Sea The Stars (11/4) who struck the front with two furlongs to go and ran home strongly to score by 1¾ lengths.

July 2009 – Eclipse (Sandown)

Yet again Sea The Stars confirmed his superiority with another commanding performance in the Eclipse at Sandown.

Oxx's colt was sent off as the 4-7 favourite to land a third Group One, battling on well in the closing stages to run out an impressive one-length winner over Rip Van Winkle.

August 2009 – Juddmonte (York)

1-4 backers were given a little bit of a scare on the Knavesmire when about a quarter of a mile out, Sea The Stars has a good two lengths to make up on Mastercraftsman.

He got there in the end, and did so with a length to spare at the line, making it a perfect four-from-four for the season and maintained his mantle as the world's top-rated racehorse.

September 2009 – Irish Champion (Leopardstown)

Race number five of the season and Ireland's great hero confirmed himself one of the outstanding racehorses of the modern era with an emphatic victory in the Irish Champion Stakes.

Many were of the view that he would sign off his career in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in early November, but Oxx said after the Irish Champion: "We'll look at the Arc first, but that depends on the ground.

"It's hard to do, five Group Ones in five months, with one performance better than another and today was his best."

October 2009 – Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Longchamp)

Oxx’s decision to run Sea The Stars in Paris proved to be exactly the right one when the Irish phenomenon clocked up his sixth Group One win in as many months with a two-length beating of Youmzain in the Arc.

Returned as the 4-6 favourite, the colt was worryingly boxed in for most of the race but surged to a two-length win when the gaps finally appeared.

Sea The Stars Legacy

Christopher Tsui, the owner of Sea The Stars, retired him shortly after his Arc victory citing that his career as a stallion was 'at least as important' as his racing career, a move that has turned out to be entirely justified years down the years with a long list of splendid progeny gracing our racecourses.

Thank you Mr Tsui and thanks for the memories Sea The Stars!

*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

 

FIRST PUBLISHED: 21st September 2022

September 21, 2022
Horse Racing

By Steve Mullington

Steve Mullington
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    Steven is a sports and horse racing enthusiast and is a member of the Horseracing Writers and Photographers Association (HWPA) in the United Kingdom.

    He is a regular visitor to Paris Longchamp for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and a lifelong fan of the Aintree Grand National, a subject he writes about 52 weeks of the year. Last year he reached the impressive milestone of attending the last 30 renewals of the Grand National.

    Steven graduated from the University Of Lancaster in 1996 with a B.A (Hons) in Urban Policy & Race Relations (major) with Contemporary Religions & Belief Systems (minor) and still wonders if any of these help him find the winners?

    He writes for a number of websites and online publications and you can sometimes hear him at the weekend discussing racing on a number of local radio stations. 

    Steve Mullington

    Kenny Cunningham & His Run Without Scoring A Premier League Goal

    Kenny Cunningham played 30,149 minutes of Premier League football without scoring. Next on the list is Everton cult hero Tony Hibbert with fewer than 24,000.

    Cunningham appeared in 335 Premier League matches (or Premiership, as it was called back then) for Wimbledon and Birmingham City. 

    For some context, Dennis Diekmeier has the same status in Germany. Diekmeier has appeared in Bundesliga odds on just over 200 occasions.

    Cunningham’s ‘record’ will take some beating – he is well over the 300 mark and only six other players (Hibbert, Des Walker, Richard Shaw, Stephane Henchoz, Danny Simpson and Steve Potts) have even played 200 times in the Premier League without scoring.

    Cunningham’s barren time in front of goal was not limited to league action.

    He scored just two club goals in a career which spanned over 600 appearances, and he never found the net despite amassing 72 caps for Ireland between 1996 and 2005. 

    Some goalkeepers were a more profitable betting option in the goalscorer markets than Cunningham.

    What he brought to the table, though, was invaluable for his teams, even earning the ‘King Kenny’ nickname at St Andrew’s.

    A steady, reliable defender with unquantifiable leadership qualities, Cunningham was appreciated by fans and teammates alike, resulting in becoming FAI International Player of the Year in 1998 and twice earning Player of the Year honours at Wimbledon.

    A move to Wimbledon from Millwall along with Jon Goodman for £1.3 million began Cunningham’s Premiership career and goalless run.

    Cunningham arrived at Wimbledon with the club fractured. The Crazy Gang culture had all but vanished, and there was a civil war between the fans and the owners over a proposed move to Milton Keynes.

    Wimbledon were playing their home matches at Selhurst Park by this point, and Cunningham saw the turmoil close up.

    "At the very end, I remember lads protesting at the games, carrying coffins and the like. We were aware of what was going on, but - as a player - there is really very little you can do. There really was some distance between the players and those in the boardroom.

    "[Going back to Plough Lane] was dead, but then you were talking about relocation to Milton Keynes, the retail aspect - the whole sheban.

    "I could understand it from a business point of view, but I never bought that this would be the same club when you are moving them sixty miles up the road."

    The Irishman remained with Wimbledon even after relegation ended their time in Premier League predictions, but he returned to the topflight with Birmingham City in 2002 and was immediately an integral part of the side.

    He racked up 134 league appearances in just four seasons in the Second City, and was adored by the blue half of Birmingham. 

    Still, there was bad blood between Cunningham and the club with barbs fired between the player, David Gold and Steve Bruce after his departure. 

    A move to Sunderland followed, but the end of his Birmingham signalled the closing of his Premier League chapter.

    *Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

     

    FIRST PUBLISHED: 21st September 2022

    September 21, 2022
    Premier League
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    Sam is a sports tipster, specialising in the Premier League and Champions League.

    He covers most sports, including cricket and Formula One. Sam particularly enjoys those on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean – notably MLB and NBA.

    Watching, writing and talking about sports betting takes up most of his time, whether that is for a day out at T20 Finals Day or a long night of basketball.

    Having been writing for several years, Sam has been working with 888Sport since 2016, contributing multiple articles per week to the blog.

    Sam Cox
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