The reason for Griezmann’s artificial ostracism is the deal of its own kind that Barça and Atlético de Madrid closed last summer for him to return to the Madrid team. After the traumatic departure of Leo Messi, and with water up to his neck in terms of fair play financial, the Blaugrana club released the attacker’s expensive file by virtue of a last-minute operation that also had more of an economic background than a sporting one, because Ronald Koeman (today outside the Camp Nou) counted on the player for lead the attack The deal was announced on the last day of the market and allowed the arrival of Luuk de Jong, who signed on loan. The statement spoke of a “one-season loan plus an optional one”, a “compulsory purchase option” (and thus not optional) and the payment of the striker’s salary by Atlético de Madrid.
Griezmann returned to the Wanda, played 81% of the minutes last season and Barça considers that it is legitimate to claim the 40 million that was set as a mandatory purchase regardless of the minutes the Frenchman has this campaign. On the other hand, Atlético de Madrid believes that the payment of this figure does depend on the player’s participation, and therefore urges Simeone not to put him as much as he would like. The discrepancy is served and the two clubs use their channels to make their judgment visible, to the point that Barça announced a few days ago that it is considering filing a lawsuit to defend itself, since the arbitration court of the League is not finished in favor of him. For their part, the Madrid club and Griezmann’s environment interpret this move as an extended hand from Laporta and company to negotiate a more affordable transfer, which would allow Cholo to use the international bleu without any limitation. In this line, The Team reported this Tuesday that the deal would be closed for around 25 million, an amount that Barça sources deny to ARA.
Griezmann has an impact on Barça’s current salary cap
The position from the Camp Nou offices is so tough because accepting the final sale of Griezmann for less than 40 million would mean losing money. The explanation is simple. Since the Frenchman cost 120 million and signed for five years as a Barcelona player, the cost to be amortized from 2019 is 24 kilos per year. Subsequently, in the devaluation carried out by the Laporta board just after the elections, eight million were cut from the footballer’s value, which went directly to losses. Thus, the pending amortization adds up to 40, which are exactly what Barça is demanding to get rid of Griezmann without incurring more red numbers. In fact, in the calculation of Barça’s salary limit for this season, the Mâcon attacker has an impact of 20 million. The only thing that saves the Culer entity with him is a salary that is not exactly low.
