Griezmann confirms he will leave Atletico Madrid this summer

Atletico Madrid's French international striker Antoine Griezmann confirmed on Tuesday that he will leave the club at the end of the season.

The Atletico Madrid website published a message from the striker in which he said that after speaking with the club he had "taken the decision to go, to see other things, have other challenges."

"It's been very hard for me to take this path, but I feel that it's what I need. These have been five great years, where I have won my first important titles with a club and it has been very important," he said.

Griezmann only signed a new contract with Atletico at the end of last season, which in theory would have kept him at the club until 2023, but which only raised his buyout clause to 120 million euros.

The striker has 133 goals in 252 appearances for Atletico after joining from Real Sociedad in 2014 and helped the club to the 2018 Europa League title, the 2018 UEFA Supercup and the 2014 Spanish Supercup championships.

The 28-year-old has not yet confirmed which club will be his next destination, but Barcelona are favorites to pay the striker's buyout clause.