Are Barcelona’s players forcing the club’s hand?

There’s something fishy going on between the players and the board

Antoine Griezmann’s rejection of Barcelona is a thing of beauty if you ask me. It was narcissistic, cringe-worthy and made me want to gouge my eyes out. The message was clear and this was not shot in a single day. Griezmann has known for a while that he was going to stay. Considering it was Gerard Pique’s company that produced it, he was obviously in the know. Samuel Umtiti, who happens to be the forward’s international teammate was probably in the know as well.

The club has been harping on about how Antoine was definitely moving to Barcelona this summer. However, after watching that horrible video, I am almost glad he didn’t. I was always on the fence with his signing but the artistically shot soap opera that was his decision made me realise that we don’t need players like Griezmann who drag a club along because it boosts their market value.

What’s surprising is that despite knowing his answer, someone like Pique has been relatively mum about the situation. He wished Griezmann well and essentially said that the board doesn’t know what it’s doing.

Recently, ter Stegen spoke to the press and expressed his desire to bring Thiago Alcantara back to the club. This has rarely been the case with Barcelona in recent years where players just praise whomever the club is being linked to. Barcelona has had a very clear stance on bringing back Thiago for a while now and MAtS’ statement didn’t toe the line.

The players have a WhatsApp group as mentioned before by Gerard Pique and despite what he told the club, it is unlikely that the players were not aware of such crucial information.

Griezmann’s rejection barely hurts. If anything, most fans are glad that this signing has been avoided and more pressing needs can be addressed in the transfer window. However, there seems to be a movement of sorts gaining momentum within the club and we need to keep an eye out for any developments. If Segura is really unable to enter the dressing room, then there’s a good chance that we will see some changes in the back offices this summer.