Simeone: Griezmann will be allowed to leave Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone will understand if Antoine Griezmann goes the way of Diego Costa.

In conversation with L'Equipe, the Atletico Madrid manager said Griezmann can leave his club if a "unique opportunity" comes along. The French forward was reportedly on the radar of Manchester United, Barcelona, and Paris Saint-Germain in recent seasons, but the product of Real Sociedad told "Telefoot" in June that it would be "a dirty move" to leave Atleti.

"Of course he can leave at some point, like Diego Costa and Arda Turan did in their day," Simeone declared, according to the Press Association. "I love watching my players grow, and if one of them tells me that they have the unique opportunity of playing for a certain team, after they did everything they could for me, like Griezmann has done, I'll say it's not a problem. I know that he needs to grow."

During an appearance on "Quotidien" in May, Griezmann was asked about the probability of a transfer to United (on a scale from one to 10), to which he answered: "Six." But Zlatan Ibrahimovic's knee injury apparently led to a change in strategy, and after the Court of Arbitration for Sport partially upheld the transfer ban imposed on Atleti until January 2018, the blonde attacker stated: "The ruling of the CAS has come through. Atletico cannot recruit. With my sporting adviser, Eric Olhats, we decided to stay. It's a hard time for the club. It would be a dirty move to leave now. We talked to the leaders and we will be back for next season."

Griezmann's release clause is allegedly valued at €100 million. He boasts five goals and three assists in 12 La Liga appearances this season.