Barcelona confirm Griezmann sale to Atletico Madrid
Karan Tejwani
- Updated: 8 Oct 2022 13:35 BST
- 3 min read
Antoine Griezmann’s loan spell at Atletico Madrid has raised plenty of questions but it all looks set to come to an end soon as a permanent transfer from Barcelona is close to completion.
Griezmann signed a two-year loan deal with Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window of 2021 having not made a big impact with the Blaugrana since signing in 2019.
There was controversy this season over who had ownership of Griezmann’s contract, with Barcelona claiming Atletico Madrid had met the clause that would see them sign the Frenchman permanently.
However, the clause was that Atletico Madrid would pay a €40 million fee to Barcelona, in case he plays for at least 45 minutes in the 50 percent of the games he is available in.
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Barcelona confirm Griezmann sale
At one point, Barcelona felt they were entitled to receiving the fee and were considering legal action to get the money they wanted by the Blaugrana have avoided going down that route.
Now, it seems as thought the two clubs have reached an agreement that will see Barcelona receive a €20 million fee for the French forward from Atletico Madrid with a further €4 million in add-ons.
All documents ready for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to complete and announce Antoine Griezmann deal very soon. Final fee: €20m guaranteed plus total €4m add-ons package. 📑✍🏻 #Atleti
It's just matter of time for the official statement, as deal is finally in place. pic.twitter.com/tmJWol5lsi— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 8, 2022
Barcelona boss Xavi also confirmed the transfer in his pre-match press conference ahead of Barcelona’s match against Celta Vigo: “We’re all happy with the agreement and I wish the player the best.”
Throughout the season so far, Griezmann has been coming off the bench and playing about 30 minutes in most matches, starting sporadically.
He has done well in the time he has come on and once the transfer is complete, he will no longer have to worry about his limited game time as all clauses will no longer exist.
In his time at Barcelona, he scored 35 goals in 102 matches, often struggling with form and a lack of consistency and won the Copa del Rey in 2021.
