Barcelona made massive headlines this summer with the signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico de Madrid for a fee in the region of €120 million. The switch was largely anticipated with the Frenchman stating publicly that he would not be continuing at the Wanda Metropolitano after the 2018/19 season.
Everything has seemed perfect and spotless for Greizmann at the Camp Nou so far. The attacker even scored a brace on his competitive debut at home against Real Betis. Despite not making much impact post that fixture, Griezmann has cemented his place in the Barcelona starting eleven.
However, things are just set to take a nasty turn of Barcelona and Griezmann. A report published by El Mundo has claimed that Barcelona’s negotiations with Griezmann were a breach of rules. The report further states that the Catalan side could be compelled to pay an additional €80 million to Atletico Madrid for the same transfer.
As the story suggests, Griezmann began negotiations and finalised his transfer to Barcelona discreetly while his buy-out clause at Atletico Madrid was €200 million. In the first instance, Griezmann and Barcelona are both wrong as Atletico Madrid should have been involved in the negotiations.
The second side to the story being that Griezmann and Barcelona purposely waited for the date to cross 1st July 2019 when Griezmann’s buyout clause became €120 million.
If things turn out to be accurate, Barcelona will end up forking out €200 million in total for Antoine Griezmann. In the modern-day football market, it has become hard to assess the actual worth of a player. In all reality, Barcelona would be having second thoughts on their decision of signing a 28-year-old player who is not an ideal fit for the Barcelona style of football.
If not for Griezmann, Barcelona could have used their resources elsewhere.
Neymar Junior
Barcelona were linked with the Brazil attacker during the closing few weeks of the transfer window. However, a deal failed to materialise between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. The Parisians had signed Neymar for over €200 million two seasons ago and would have certainly not let go off Neymar for a figure less substantial than that.
Naturally, Barcelona would have used their entire pull, power, and resources on Neymar had they known Antoine Griezmann would end up costing them over €200 million. Moreover, Neymar has played in the shirt of Barcelona before and knows the club inside out.
Antoine Griezmann’s Price Tag?
Griezmann has not really settled down in Barcelona despite starting in all of the clubs games this season. For a player on whom a large amount of money has been spent, much more is expected of Griezmann.
In the absence of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at the start of the season due to injury, Griezmann did not really step up and justify the money that was spent on him. Instead, Ansu Fati, who is just a 16-year-old teenager, emerged from the pack and earned a name for himself. It might still be early days in the season, but Barcelona would be scratching their heads if they indeed have to chip in another €80 million.
