Barcelona revise strategy to sign Antoine Griezmann

Barcelona will offer more than the value of Griezmann’s release clause

Barcelona have been following Antoine Griezmann for a long time, and this summer, the club intends to bring him on board to act as successor to the ageing Luis Suárez. Earlier, the club wanted to sign him by activating his €100 million release clause.

But the management has binned that plan. If the club activated his release clause, the fee would have to be paid to Atlético in a single transaction, with the LFP heavily involved in the transfer. It would become a very complex process.

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Since Barcelona want to wrap up this operation before the start of the World Cup in Russia, the management has decided to take a different route with the transfer. It will be more costly, but the negotiations will be short.

The club is ready to offer a transfer fee higher in value than Griezmann’s release clause, and pay the amount in two installments, which would not have been if the club activated Griezmann’s release clause.

Also, LFP would not have any involvement in the deal, and the whole transfer would be complete before the World Cup. But the club will need to speed up negotiations for this purpose. The previous agreement will also have to be cancelled.

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This proves that the club does not have a lack of funds. While this is a positive sign for signing highly reputed players like Griezmann, the management should ensure that the club does not forget about La Masia in the rush to sign stars, like Real Madrid.