Manchester United Transfer News: Antoine Griezmann Massive Wage Demand Rumours

Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann is reportedly seeking wages of £400,000 per week if he's to join Manchester United after already rejecting an offer to become one of the club's best-paid players.

Griezmann was thought to be on the verge of a move to Old Trafford last summer before Atletico were hit with a transfer ban, but The Sun reported he now wants an eye-watering £400,000-per-week wage to complete the switch (h/t Metro).

A source was quoted by The Sun:

"The goalposts have moved significantly since the first attempt to sign Griezmann. The package offered last year which was agreed is now a lot less than what he wants next summer.

"It might be too much even for us to afford. The club is desperate to sign him but it is an awful lot of money. His people are making different demands which the club might be reluctant to give in to."

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That's after he's already said to have turned down a £300,000-per-week offer from the Red Devils to boost their attacking ranks at the end of this season, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic expected to leave when his contract expires.

Atletico manager Diego Simeone was recently boosted by the arrivals of Diego Costa and Vitolo after being able to register the two players signed in the summer, and he spoke positively of the options at his disposal, via Goal.

It's widely believed Griezmann is likely to leave the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium at the end of this season, and Barcelona are also mentioned as being among the former Real Sociedad star's big admirers.

However, the Blaugrana recently completed a £142 million deal to sign Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool, and AFP's Kieran Canning noted that investment makes a summer move for Griezmann extremely difficult to pull off.

It's speculated Barca would need to sell a significant number of players in order to free up the funds and room on their wage bill necessary to sign Griezmann, while United manager Jose Mourinho is described by Metro as "determined" to sign the Frenchman.

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The salary Griezmann is said to be seeking would put him on a par with the world's best players and eclipse even the earnings of Ibrahimovic, a veteran of the game and one of the best strikers in the world on his day.

Ciaran Kelly of the Manchester Evening News wrote in May and referred to Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football, which alleged Ibrahimovic's contract at United last season was worth £367,640 per week, while Paul Pogba earns £165,588 per week.

Therefore the numbers Griezmann is said to be seeking could present a problem, no matter how badly they wish to pair the France international with Romelu Lukaku.

If Griezmann's demands prove genuine, one might wonder whether he would give the same conditions to Barcelona if they press ahead with their interest, or whether he'd be willing to settle for less.

The La Liga leaders appear to look like the more alluring destination while United sit second in the Premier League way off Manchester City's pace, and the plot to engineer a Camp Nou switch may have started early.