Barcelona calm over Griezmann situation despite Atletico Madrid’s ‘tactics’

Antoine Griezmann has started each of Atletico Madrid’s three La Liga games from the bench, leading to the suggestions that the Los Colchoneros are doing everything in their power to avoid the mandatory buy option which is worth €40 million.

Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 win over Valencia was the third consecutive instance where the World Cup winner arrived on the field after the 60th minute. This means the 31-year-old has clocked less than half an hour per game so far this season.

Now, there are questions regarding Atletico’s intention to meet the clause, but SPORT reports that Barcelona are calm about the entire situation mostly because they know their La Liga rivals will have to use him more often due to fixture congestion.

Revisiting what was established between Barcelona and Atletico, the latter agreed to pay €40 million to the Blaugrana if Griezmann plays 50% of the matches in which he is available across his two-year loan spell.

Last season alone, he played a minimum of 45 minutes in 81% of the matches. The early signs were good and Barcelona were at peace as they believed by the end of the 2022-23 season, Griezmann would permanently be a part of the Atletico Madrid roster. 

However, everything changed at the beginning of the season as Los Rojiblancos seemed reluctant to pay the aforementioned amount. 

This has led Barcelona to believe that Diego Simeone has been told by the management not to start Griezmann in the first place, although the Argentine recently rebuffed the claims right away.

“Griezmann? As long as he manages to respond as he does, having him on the field is very important and I understand that you have to put him on when it suits the team best,” Simeone was quoted as saying by SPORT.

For now, although there were initial worries due to Atletico Madrid’s tactics, Barcelona are not thinking about the issue as they know Simeone will be forced to rotate his players due to the fixture congestion ahead of the World Cup.

Lastly, although it depends on how far Atletico make it to the knockout competitions this season, if he plays more than 45 minutes in around 15 matches, the mandatory purchase option of €40 million will be activated and Atletico will be liable to pay Barcelona the established transfer fee.