Barcelona to pull Griezmann stunt on Atletico Madrid over Carrasco

Tom Weber

• Updated: 27 Mar 2023 16:47 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona are keen on bringing Atletico Madrid's Yannick Carrasco to the Camp Nou, and they could pull a familiar trick to get him.

When Memphis Depay departed for the red and white side of Madrid in January of this year, Barcelona managed to include a purchase option for Atleti winger Yannick Carrasco in the deal.

The Blaugrana already wanted to sign the Belgian on loan in January, but Atleti rebuffed any talk of a mid-season departure. Instead, it was agreed that Barcelona could get the 29-year-old for €15 million in the summer.

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Carrasco has not necessarily been a standout performer or set the world alight this term, racking up just six goals and two assists in 33 games across all competitions this season, but the player reportedly wants to move to the Camp Nou and Barcelona want the player.

The main roadblock to any potential transfer is the small matter of Barcelona's economic problems. They need to sort out their finances to comply with LaLiga's Financial Fair Play rules, so they are wary of paying the agreed-upon sum for Carrasco.

Pulling a Griezmann

In light of this, Mundo Deportivo reports that the Blaugrana are keen to renegotiate the terms of the initial agreement so as to allow them to get the Belgian, whose Atleti contract runs until 2024, in for cheaper.

This wouldn't be the first time that something like this transpired between these two clubs. Indeed, when Barcelona loaned Antoine Griezmann to Atleti back in the summer of 2021, it was understood that the latter could buy him for €40m.

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Not prepared to spend that much, Atleti successfully drove the price down to €20 million last year.

Barcelona want Atleti to return the favour now in the negotiations over Yannick Carrasco. "Barça," says the Spanish paper, "will do to Atlético what Atlético did to Barça with Antoine Griezmann."