Barcelona are reportedly set to complete the signing of Antoine Griezmann in the next 72 hours, by paying the French international’s €120 million buyout clause.
According to a report from Spanish publication Sport, La Liga champions Barcelona are looking to wrap up the transfer of Atletico Madrid superstar Antoine Griezmann by this weekend, by matching the Frenchman’s release clause that stands at €120 million.
Griezmann has been with Atletico Madrid since 2014, having arrived from Real Sociedad. The 28-year-old has tasted great success during his time with Los Rojiblancos, netting 133 goals in 257 appearances, on his way to winning the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. But, he is set to bring his time at the club to an end this summer.
The entire Griezmann transfer saga has been dominating the headlines for quite some time now. Having snubbed a transfer to Barcelona in favour of a stay at Atletico Madrid last summer, the French international expressed his desire to leave the Wanda Metropolitano at the end of the 2018-19 season, with the Catalan club being touted as his next destination.
Barcelona are in the market for attacking reinforcements, having seen the likes of Malcom and Philippe Coutinho fail to make the desired impact at the club over the past season. With star striker Luis Suarez not getting any younger and struggling to perform at his peak last year, captain Lionel Messi had to carry most of the burden, a problem they want to address ahead of next season.
While there have been serious talks of re-signing Neymar from PSG, Griezmann has been firmly on the radars of Barcelona. Atletico Madrid CEO Gil Marin even confirmed that the Frenchman’s next destination would be Camp Nou last month, but there had been no movement on that front.
However, as per the latest report from Sport, Barcelona are set to seal the deal for Griezmann in the next 72 hours, by matching the 28-year-old’s release clause. The buyout clause initially stood at €200 million, but dropped down to €120 million on July 1 and the Catalans are now set to make their move to bring the forward to the club.
Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde will recall his players for pre-season training in the 14th of this month. And the La Liga champions want to bring Griezmann on board before that.
Moreover, Atletico Madrid will begin preparations for next season on Friday and should Barcelona fail to get the deal done before that Griezmann will have to return to the Spanish capital outfit till the transfer is over the line, which would not be the ideal scenario for any of the parties involved.
As a result, Barcelona are set to ramp up their attempts to sign the World Cup winner and look to seal the deal by the weekend. If all goes according to plan, Griezmann should, in all likelihood, be a Barcelona player before they kick-off their pre-season training.
