Atletico Madrid’s cheeky Griezmann plan robs Barcelona of $57m
Atletico Madrid’s cheeky Griezmann plan robs Barcelona of $57m: Atletico Madrid is well-known across the footballing world for its sneaky tactics on the field, but the La Liga team is also cunning off it.
Credits : The Scottish Sun
By limiting Antoine Griezmann’s playing time to less than 30 minutes, Atleti is making every effort to avoid having to pay Barcelona $AUD57 million for his services.
For the 2021/22 season, Griezmann returned to the team on a one-year loan agreement, although Atletico had the option of keeping the French star on loan for an additional year.
However, the agreement had a number of provisions.
One of them said that if Griezmann played 30 minutes or more in at least 80% of the games in which he was available, Atleti would have to sign him permanently for $57 million.
What exactly has Diego Simeone, the manager of Atleti, done to defraud Barcelona of some much-needed money?
Griezmann is listed as a substitute, however he is not added until the 62nd minute.
In Atleti’s opening two La Liga games, the 31-year-old played for 28 minutes, but against Valencia, he played for just 26 minutes.
Griezmann has scored goals while playing a short number of minutes, as seen by his goals against Valencia and Getafe in the first game of the season.
The Camp Nou power brokers, who have had to get exceedingly inventive to weave around a sea of financial troubles, are not happy with Athlete’s cunning manner to avoid paying Barcelona.
The 31-year-old superstar is now on loan from Barcelona to Atletico, but his deal is loaded with restrictions.
If he participates in more than half of Atletico’s games this season, they may have to shell out £34 million to purchase him permanently.
Only if he plays the entire 45 minutes of football in half the games will he fulfill this duty.
According to UOL, Atletico are making sure to limit his game time in order to avoid triggering the clause.
Griezmann’s time on the field in their most recent match at Valencia was slightly shorter as he entered the game in the 64th minute and played for the last 26 minutes.
The Frenchman has excelled despite Diego Simeone restricting his playing time to very particular blocks.
In the inaugural match at Getafe, he netted 15 minutes from time after coming off the bench to score against Valencia.
Only in the defeat against Villarreal at home, where Atletico had a player sent off, did he fail to have an influence.
Real Madrid and Real Betis are the only teams with 100% starts, leaving Atletico with six points after nine games.
Barcelona, Griezmann’s parent club, is still unblemished on the field, but the team has been beset by problems off it.
The club has fought with players like Frenkie de Jong and Martin Braithwaite over unpaid payments and contract terminations in addition to their innovative measures to solve their financial problems.
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