Griezmann to Barcelona: The worst transfer of all time
Stuart Telford
- 6 Oct 2022 08:49 CDT
- 4 min read
Barcelona have agreed to sell Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid for half their original asking price, which is some €100 million less than they first paid Atleti for him in 2019.
Barca have endured a litany of bad transfer decisions in recent seasons, but at least Ousmane Dembele is eventually coming good, whilst Miralem Pjanic cost half as much and didn't step on Lionel Messi's toes when he did play.
But the Griezmann one has been an expensive disaster from start to finish. He announced his decision to stay at Atletico in a lavish video documentary in June 2018, but duly arrived at Barca the next July after they met his €120m release fee.
OFFICIAL: Antoine #Griezmann has joined @FCBarcelona from @Atleti pic.twitter.com/LY30BEq4WN
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) July 12, 2019
Whilst Griezmann was a fine player, one who had won the World Cup with France in 2018, he also happened to play the exact same position as Lionel Messi - widely regarded as one of the greatest, if not the outright best, player of all time.
Two diminutive, left-footed players who prefer to drift in off the right flank was never going to work, and Griezmann output slowed to just 35 goals in 102 games across his two full seasons at Camp Nou.
Messi misery
But Griezmann's arrival also had ramifications off the field. His was not the only exorbitant sum spent after Barca hit full panic-mode after Neymar's world record €222m transfer to PSG in 2017 - Dembele had cost €145m from Borussia Dortmund; Philippe Coutinho, another flop, €162.3m from Liverpool - but he was the one who played in the Argentine's exact position.
Until, of course, Messi was no longer there to occupy it. With Barca €1.35 BILLION in debt, they couldn't renew Messi's contract last summer and he followed Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
While Messi left for France last summer, Griezmann returned on loan to Atletico on a two-year deal. But there was a caveat: Atleti were obligated to make the move permanent for €40m should Griezmann play 45 minutes in 14 of los Colchoneros' games this season.
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Diego Simeone subsequently restricted Griezmann to 30-minute cameos at the start of this season as Atleti and Barca both sought legal advice on how to decrease and respect the €40m fee respectively.
In the end, the clubs have agreed that Griezmann can move for €20m - a relief for the player, who has a winter World Cup with France coming up. It is also good news for Atletico, who are signing back their talented talisman for significantly less than the €35m he is valued at by Football Transfers sophisticated in-house algorithm.
But for Barcelona, it goes down as one of the worst transfers of all time. They bought Antoine Griezmann, and it cost them €100m, Lionel Messi, and ultimately, Antoine Griezmann.
