FC Barcelona Reach Griezmann Sale Agreement With Atletico Madrid

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 his €120mn ($120mn) buy-out clause was activated on the watch of previous president Josep Bartomeu.

Fielded 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 the Argentine.

While Messi 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 permanently 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 Diego Simeone drilled home by bringing the 31-year-old on from the bench after the hour mark almost 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 ($100mn) loss for Barca.

But one positive to take is the fact that there is now, if the deal goes ahead, no chance of his monstrous wages becoming 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 ($10mn) a year in comparison to the €21mn ($21mn) he previously received 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.