Barcelona's €40m Griezmann bonus is under threat
Karan Tejwani
- 19 Aug 2022 11:25 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona loaned out Antoine Griezmann for two seasons last year, with a view to a future sale worth €40 million, but that may now be under threat.
Griezmann joined Barcelona in 2019 but struggled to make a big impact in his time there, and was loaned back to Atletico Madrid last season, where he played before and enjoyed the best period of his career.
The conditions of the loan were that Atletico Madrid would pay Barcelona €40 million for Griezmann at the end of the loan period, which is the end of this season.
There was a caveat that Griezmann had to play 45 minutes in at least 50 percent of the matches in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons for the fee to be triggered, and that may now be under threat.
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Atletico Madrid aren’t entirely keen on paying that fee, as the player turns 32 next year and his performances last season weren’t all that convincing.
There was an encouraging start for the Frenchman to this campaign, despite starting the season on the bench, he came on in the 61st minute in Atleti’s league opener against Getafe and scored in a 3-0 win.
It remains to be seen whether this will become a trend for the rest of the season – keeping him on the bench increases the chances that he’ll play fewer matches more than 45 minutes, which would trigger the transfer clause.
❗️| Loan Watch: Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in Atletico’s 3-0 win against Getafe yesterday. It was his first La Liga goal in almost 9 months. pic.twitter.com/YyjYwFoOLv
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) August 16, 2022
Last season, excluding the games in which he was injured (10) or suspended (1), Griezmann played at least 45 minutes in 33 of the 40 games in which he was available, which is 82.5 percent.
One way for Atletico Madrid to get out of this would be to discuss a change to the contract and clause, negotiating with Barcelona to reduce the €40 million fee.
Simeone may bench him more often this season in order to not reach the 50 percent threshold, especially if Griezmann is not in his plans for the coming years.
