BFW Roundtable: should Bayern Munich make a move for Antoine Griezmann?

Whoa — if you want to pull the string on any BFW staff member, just ask them their opinion about whether Bayern Munich should make a run for Atlético Madrid star and 2018 France World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann.

So that’s what we did.

With Griezmann’s future seemingly in limbo (at least for now), there could be a window for another club to step in between a pending transaction FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.

Jake Fenner

If you’ve heard my vitriolic rant about Bayern’s transfer window (if you haven’t what are you doing? Listen to the pod), you know that I’m not impressed with how the manager and the board have handled the summer so far.

This entire window has been hyped up since last summer, when the board promised to spend big and saved up. Why else would we have passed on a generational talent in Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt, whom we might have gotten in the winter, if we weren’t going to spend big now? To me, Bayern needs to spend big and it can start with Griezmann. Yes, he’s 28, but he’s fit, plays well, and therefore probably has five or six more good years left in him. Plus, after being rejected by Lionel Messi and Barcelona, he won’t be going back to Atlético Madrid anytime soon now that they have new attacking power.

This is also a player whose name has been floated since we started building up the money for this summer, so why would we not make a run for him? He’s a talented player with a good work ethic and a marketable personality which could rejuvenate this fanbase. I know his age and his price tag are a concern, but to me, a player of Griezmann’s caliber is more than worth it.

Phillip Quinn

If Robert Lewandowski had left Bayern a year or two ago, Antoine Griezmann was one of my first options to spend all that cash on to replace him. However, now that Lewandowski is close to extending his contract with Bayern, should the club be spending anywhere from €120-200 million on Griezmann? No. I don’t think so.

Griezmann isn’t the kind of player that Bayern needs up top in the attack. Yes, the club needs a backup striker in addition to another winger or two. Griezmann isn’t a winger. He’s too good to be a backup striker. I just don’t see how this deal makes any sense for the club.

John N. Dillon

I’d take Dembélé over Griezmann, but I don’t like either of them.

They’re both headcases, but at least Dembélé is much younger (22) and actually plays on the left wing. I can’t see signing Griezmann unless the board is committed to having Kovac play with two strikers in a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2 (like Atlético Madrid...). I don’t see that happening.

This team is built around Robert Lewandowski, and for good reason. He delivers 40 goals or more every season and shows no sign of slowing down. Lewy needs wingers for service, not another striker. Griezmann is 28 and expensive, and Bayern doesn’t need him. Bayern needs a quality winger to compliment Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry.

Tom Adams

For me, this comes down to two words; calculated risk. This is all contingent upon whether or not he is the best available if and when Bayern would need to decide whether or not to pull the trigger. Also, Griezmann officially announced he was going to leave Atlético Madrid before Neymar made it clear that he wanted to leave Paris Saint-Germain to go back to Barcelona. In order for Barcelona to be be able to afford bringing both players, they’d likely have to sell Philippe Coutinho and/or Ousmane Dembele, who’s been touted as Bayern’s ‘Plan B’ for Leroy Sane. With that said, I think what’s happening now is all of the cards are trying to be aligned to facilitate Griezmann’s move to Barcelona and make sure every party involved gets paid properly.

The Frenchman is currently valuated at 130 million Euros and his asking price from Atlético Madrid is approximately 120 million, which is buyout clause. He’s already failed to show up for Atlético’s preseason training to reportedly try and force through the move to Barcelona, so I think it’s essentially inevitable that he’s going there. For that much money for a player who’s first choice is clearly Barcelona, Bayern would be better off investing that amount of money elsewhere, for two, or perhaps even three quality players.

For example, Lille’s Nicolas Pepe. I watch a decent amount of Ligue 1, and I do sort of disagree with Bayern’s board on Pepe. I think he could do REALLY well in the Bundesliga with Bayern. They kind of just chalked him up to ‘not good enough’ for whatever reason. I think the guy is a real talent. I’m not sure why that fizzled so quickly to be honest. He’s gonna do well wherever he winds up in my opinion and Lille’s coach has already said he’s welcome to leave and should be playing for a top club with his talent.

Chuck Smith

When it comes to talent, Antoine Griezmann is no-brainer to me. He’s extremely skilled, has a nose for the goal, has pace, and provides the positional flexibility to play anywhere along Bayern Munich’s front four positions for Niko Kovac.

All of that seems great, no doubt. Where I get lost on Griezmann, however, is with his exorbitant cost, his diva-like tendencies, and just how he would fit overall. With Bayern, Griezmann might be best suited to play the 10, where the club is trying to give Thomas Muller a full season after years of being caught in a tug-of-war between playing behind Robert Lewandowski and being shoved out to the wing.

I like Griezmann, his talent, and his illustrious mane. He is DAMN good, but his cost (and how it might affect future pursuits), his sometimes sulky attitude, and trying to find a way he could fit without causing an upheaval all seem like he might present more risk than reward. Those are really the areas that give me some reservations. In addition, I think RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner can provide the same positional versatility and offers tremendous upside while being younger and cheaper — (you KNEW that take was incoming).

So there you have it. If you had the chance to bring in Griezmann, would you? Tell us in the poll and in the comments.