Antoine Griezmann has confirmed that he is staying at Atletico Madrid in favour of a long-mooted move to Barcelona.

In an hour-long TV special aired by Spanish network Movistar+ on Thursday evening, the France forward revealed the angst he faced in deciding between the two clubs before choosing to stay at Atletico – the club he joined from Real Sociedad in 2014.

The news will come as a boost to the 2017/18 La Liga runners-up, who were braced to lose their star player to Barca after much speculation that the Catalan club would trigger Griezmann’s €100 million release clause to secure a move.

Griezmann had said he would make his decision public before France’s World Cup campaign started, with the transfer saga threatening to distract both player and team as they headed into the tournament. They kick-off in Group C against Australia on Saturday.

The 27-year-old also tweeted his decision to stay, timed to coincide with the announcement being made on his TV segment.