GOAL - James Westwood

Blaise Matuidi has urged out-of-form Barcelona striker Antoine Griezmann to join him at Inter Miami.

Griezmann has endured arguably the most frustrating period of his career to date since moving to Barcelona from Atletico Madrid for €120 million (£108m/$142m) in the summer of 2019.

The 29-year-old has only scored 15 goals in his first 51 appearances for the club, and has yet to open his account at the start of the new season.

Griezmann has been asked to take up a role on the right-wing under new Barca boss Ronald Koeman, despite having built his reputation as one of the most dangerous centre-forwards in Europe while on Atletico's books and for France on the international stage.

He now finds himself in the shadow of Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho and Ansu Fati, with questions already being asked over his long-term future at Camp Nou.

Matuidi has invited his compatriot to join him in MLS at David Beckham-owned franchise Inter Miami, who he joined as a free agent after seeing his contract at Juventus terminated in August.

Asked if he can see Griezmann taking up a new challenge in the United States as he edges towards the latter stages of his career, the 33-year-old midfielder told Canal Plus: "I do not know. 

"Only the future will tell. But if he wishes to come one day, he will be welcome."

As much as Matuidi would like to link up with the former Atletico talisman in Miami, he acknowledges the fact that the forward is contracted to remain in Barcelona until 2024, with there still plenty of time for him to turn around his career with the LaLiga giants.

"Antoine is still young. I know that he is at one of the biggest clubs in the world today. He just has to get through this difficult time he's going through," he added.

"After that, he still has many years to play there, with a long contract."

Griezmann is currently away on UEFA Nations League duty with France, who are scheduled to take on Croatia in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final on Wednesday.

The Barca star played the full 90 minutes of a 0-0 draw against Portugal on Sunday, but Matuidi was missing from the squad after being left out by Didier Deschamps for the second consecutive round of international matches.