Antoine Griezmann played Manchester United like a fiddle, claims Atletico Madrid teammate Filipe Luis

The French forward was one of the most highly sought after players last summer and United boss Jose Mourinho was willing to spend in excess of £85m to secure his services - but he ended up staying

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Antoine Griezmann was never interested in leaving Atletico Madrid and simply used Manchester United’s interest in him to leverage a better contract from his club, according to teammate Filipe Luis.

The French forward was one of the most highly sought after players last summer and United boss Jose Mourinho was willing to spend in excess of £85m to secure his services.

But after a protracted transfer saga that lasted several months and saw the player – and his brother Theo – make regular overtures to the club, the 26-year-old eventually signed a new contract which will keep him in the Spanish capital until 2022.

Luis believes that was part of the plan all along.

“[Griezmann] is a guy who speaks very clearly and often players talk when they feel they are not being valued as they deserve. Then they start to attract attention,” the left-back told El Mundo.

“He will have had many offers from many teams and a player of his stature wants to get the best contract.

“And he deserves it, because Griezmann is playing a big role here [at Atletico].

“In the end, no matter how much he has talked about other clubs, he has always wanted to stay and here he is and he’s happy.”

Atletico remain undefeated in La Liga at this early stage of the season and – despite their last-minute defeat to Chelsea – will be hoping to go deep once again in the Champions League.

Luis believes Atleti’s fans will quickly forgive Griezmann if he continues the kind of performances he has been putting in for the past few seasons and hopes his teammate will continue his stay in Spain for many years to come.

“Surely he can stay longer. Let's hope people understand it and get back to normal. Although he has already scored goals and with goals everything heals.”