New deal makes Antoine Griezmann Atletico Madrid's best-paid player

France striker was subject to offer from Barcelona, but Atletico chief executive flew to Russia where he signed new contract

France's striker Antoine Griezmann will resume playing for Atletico Madrid in the 2018/19 season. Jorge Silva / Reuters

France star Antoine Griezmann has signed a contract extension with Atletico Madrid through to 2023, the club announced on Monday.

Griezmann was subject to an offer from Barcelona, but Atletico chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin flew to Russia on Monday where the forward, who is with the French squad, signed the new deal.

The club also revealed that at the same time France defender Lucas Hernandez has also extended his deal with the club until 2024.

Griezmann, 27, was heavily wooed by Barcelona but in the end he elected ahead of the weekend to prolong his four year stay at the Spanish capital side.

Griezmann then scored from the first VAR-assisted penalty awarded in the history of the World Cup as title hopefuls France battled to a 2-1 win over gutsy Australia in Kazan on Saturday.

Last month he scored twice in Atletico's 3-0 win over Marseille in the Europa League final.

It was Griezmann's first major title with Atletico after being in the side that lost on penalties to Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League final in 2016, having also lost to Madrid two years earlier.

He also lost the European Championship final with France that same summer.

"I want to win the Champions League...it wasn't hard luck, it was that we were missing something," he reflected.

His loyalty to Atletico has been rewarded with an increase in salary to €20 million (Dh85.2m) a year, according to reports in the Spanish media, making him the best-paid player in the club's history.

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