Antoine Griezmann drops cryptic Julian Alvarez transfer hint amid Man City record deal

Antoine Griezmann appears to have announced Atletico Madrid are signing Julian Alvarez from Manchester City before either of the clubs involved have.

City have agreed a £82 million deal with the Spanish side, with around £64 million initially changing hands this summer. Alvarez seemingly wants to leave the club this summer, and they are not standing in his way after receiving an acceptable offer for the Argentina international.

While away with his country this summer, first at the Copa America, then more recently at the Olympic Games, Alvarez has alluded to leaving. Now it is his potential new teammate Griezmann who is teasing a transfer.

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Minutes after Fabrizio Romano posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Alvarez had agreed personal terms with Atletico, their forward posted a spider emoji followed by a screaming emoji and a heart-eyes emoji. Romano replied a minute later with the eyes emoji and another spider emoji.

City often use the same emoji on social media when posting about the player. Alvarez has the nickname 'spider,' which has stuck since childhood, and channels it in his goal celebration by spreading his arms wide and extending his thumb, forefinger and little finger like Spiderman.

The post from Griezmann potentially smooths over any awkwardness between the two days after unsavoury scenes marred a quarter-final match between Argentina and Griezmann's France, in which Alvarez was involved. Both players have only previously met once in the other recent high-profile game between the two countries: the 2022 World Cup final.

The animosity between the two teams has only