The management of the Antoine Griezmann case is tricky at Atlético Madrid. In financial difficulty, the club would have asked the French international to lower his salary by 30% when he had already halved it to return to Atletico last year, according to several Spanish media.
The 2018 world champion is on loan for two seasons from FC Barcelona (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) to his former club. The exercise of a mandatory purchase option at the end of the financial year could put Atlético in the red. If Antoine Griezmann plays more than 50% of the matches where he is available during the loan period, the Colchoneros will have to exercise the purchase option, a contractual clause of 40 million euros to be paid to the Catalan club.
Doomed to spend his season on the bench?
Last season, “Grizou” played more than 45 minutes of play in more than 80% of possible matches. This season, Antoine Griezmann’s playing time could be drastically reduced. The French striker needs to play less than 30 minutes per game so the club won’t be forced to get him back at the end of the season. A reduced playing time which was noticed during the first two days of the championship in Spain, where Antoine Griezmann each time entered the lawn in the 62nd minute of play. On the ground, the tricolor striker competes with Alvaro Morata and João Felix. Atlético also rejected a substantial offer from Manchester United for the Portuguese international at the end of July.
The leaders considered letting the Frenchman go, but coach Diego Simeone vetoed it. Several times at a press conference, the coach has declared his desire to have him in his squad: “I hope he will stay with us. Everyone knows how much I appreciate him, how much I love him, how important he is for the club and for the team. The player also intends to stay. With the start of the World Cup in Qatar in 3 months, Griezmann’s lack of playing time could penalize the Blues, while the Frenchman has not scored for the France team since November 2021. lack of confidence even if he finally scored in the league on the first day, the Frenchman is whistled by the Madrid public.
