BARCELONA sporting director Mateu Alemany has confirmed Antoine Griezmann’s move to Atletico Madrid has FINALLY been made permanent.
The forward has been with Diego Simeone’s side since the start of last season after securing a two-year loan.
A bizarre clause meant Atletico would have to buy Griezmann permanently for £35million if he played 30 minutes or more in over half their matches.
To get around it, Atletico have often sent the 31-year-old on as a sub after the hour mark.
Then reports emerged last week that Barcelona had accepted a fee of £17.5m – half the agreed figure – to put an end to the stand-off.
And today Barca chief Alemany confirmed at a shareholders’ meeting that Griezmann is now an Atletico player for good.
Read More In Football
Although Barcelona have had to compromise in order for that to happen.
Alemany claimed Barca will receive somewhere between £17.5m and £26m for Griezmann, dependent on bonuses, which is significantly less than the original £35m agreement.
He said on Griezmann: “We have renegotiated the conditions with Atletico Madrid this week and we will receive between 20 and 30 million euros, depending on the bonuses.”
He added: “It’s a massive, extraordinary deal for us because of Griezmann salary — and same for Coutinho.”
Most read in Football
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
It’s understood Griezmann was on around £300,000-a-week at Barcelona.
The Frenchman has started just three out of 11 games in all competitions this season.
But that number now looks likely to increase after his move was made permanent.
Griezmann originally signed for Barcelona from Atletico in 2019 for a whopping £107m.
He scored 35 goals in 102 games for the Catalan giants before being sent back to his former side after failing to live up to expectations.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
