English Premier League club Manchester United is rumored to be envisioning Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann to replace Wayne Rooney as the next superstar at the Old Trafford.
The Mirror reported that the 25-year-old France international is "a long-term target for Manchester United as a replacement for stalwart and captain Wayne Rooney" and that the legendary English club will pursue him next summer.
Head coach Jose Mourinho is said to be including Griezmann in his shopping list in the summer of 2017, one year after his £89.3 million world transfer record-breaking deal for Paul Pogba from Juventus.
Griezmann is one of the best goalscorers in La Liga in the past two seasons. Last term, the Frenchman was sixth overall in the Spanish domestic top flight with 22 goals in 38 appearances behind five of the best footballers in the world right now, Luis Suárez (40), Cristiano Ronaldo (35), Lionel Messi (26), Neymar (24) and Karim Benzema (24).
Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Rooney's game is already on a decline mainly because of injuries. Last season, he scored only eight goals in 28 games in the Premier League, a new low from his double-digit goals per season in the past.
The Englishman reportedly wants to extend his career with the Manchester giants by scheduling his retirement from international play after the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Red Devils captain is also the England national team skipper that is set to compete in the UEFA World Cup qualifying tournament starting on Sunday.
Caught Offside indicated that "Atletico Madrid are unwilling to let go of their star asset for anything under his £85 million release clause", which United is said to be willing to pay next summer.
Griezmann was acquired by Los Colchoneros in the summer of 2014 from fellow La Liga outfit Real Sociedad for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £24 million. In two seasons with the squad, the 5-foot-9 Mâcon, France native had played in a total of 107 games in all competitions and have scored 57 times.
Should the Red Devils pull-off Griezmann's transfer next year, the club is set to make a new record of consecutive summers spending more than £85 million for a single player alone.