FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid for Antoine Griezmann.
FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have reached an agreement for the sale of Antoine Griezmann.
The Frenchman joined Barca from Atleti in the summer of 2019 after activating his €120mn buy-out clause on the watch of previous president Josep Bartomeu.
Played out of position on the left wing and failing to adapt to Lionel Messi’s playing style, however, Griezmann fled Camp Nou in August 2021 like Messi.
While the Argentine walked to Paris Saint Germain in Griezmann’s homeland on a free, Griezmann returned to his former club on a two-year deal that was said to have come with a mandatory €40mn ($40mn) payment to purchase the World Cup winner in 2023.
Atleti disputed this and understood that handing over the sum would only be necessary if Griezmann played for more than 45 minutes in 50% of their matches – a point that head coach Simeone drilled home by bringing the 31-year-old on from the bench after the hour mark every game without fail.
Barca then studied legal action. But recent weeks have seen Atleti start Griezmann from the offset in two important matches – the Madrid derby which they lost to Real Madrid and another defeat to Clube Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday.
This gave some sort of credence to reports that Barca and Atleti had found a solution to their problem, and Cadena SER have claimed on Wednesday morning that the two sides have reached an agreement to transfer Griezmann for a paltry €20mn ($20mn).
It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out that selling Griezmann for this price represents a huge €100mn loss for Barca. But there some positives to take are the fact that there is now, if the deal goes ahead, no chance of his monstrous wages become a problem for the Catalans in the near future.
Griezmann was said to have taken a 40% paycut to wear Atleti’s shirt again, or rather accepted €10mn a year in comparison to the €21mn ($21mn) he previously took home in Blaugrana as the club’s biggest earner.
On the watch of Bartomeu’s successor Joan Laporta, it is said that no first team star takes home more than €10mn ($10mn) a season.
