Abidal denies Barcelona approached Griezmann before he announced Atletico exit

French newspaper 'Le Parisien' managed to get an interview with Eric Abidal and ask him about the arrival of Antoine Griezmann at Barça and the subsequent problems the club is having with Atletico Madrid.

"The president Bartomeu got in touch with Atletico Madrid to discuss the terms of a transfer for Griezmann and to inform them, if negotiations weren't possible, that Barça would pay his €120m buyout clause. It was €200m in March and €120m in July," explained Abidal.

Since then Atletico have launched a very public attack on Barça for supposedly agreeing a deal with the player before his buyout clause had dropped to €120m. "Atletico are defending their interests and we are defending Barça's. We never had a prior agreement with the player. We got in contact with his lawyer after Griezmann announced he wanted to leave the club."

"We can always talk about interest. We can like a player because our sporting department says they'd fit the profile of what we are looking for. But this interest only became concrete when the player expressed his wish to join Barça."

Abidal is a huge fan of Griezmann. "To start, his talent. We all know this. His experience too because he's won a lot of titles. He was a very important player for Atletico Madrid. He can make a difference in the big matches and is capable of playing in various positions. He's still a great goalscorer and Barça need players like him."