Barcelona striker confirms he’s staying on loan for the 2022/23 season

Taking to Twitter, Barcelona superstar Antoine Griezmann has confirmed that he will be staying put on loan at Atletico Madrid for the upcoming campaign.

Griezmann joined Barcelona from Atletico in the summer of 2019, but endured two subpar seasons at the club, failing to hit the heights expected after his mega-money transfer.

Given his misfiring form and Barça’s need to cut down on wages last summer, the Blaugrana sent him back to the Wanda Metropolitano on the deadline day of the summer transfer window last year.

The two teams agreed a two-year loan deal after which Atleti will have an obligation to sign the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner on a permanent transfer.

Much like Barça last year, Atletico Madrid are struggling to stay within the salary limit imposed by La Liga. The impending return of loanees Alvaro Morata and Saul Niguez, both of whom are on high wages, is only set to push them further off the limits.

It has stopped Los Rojiblancos from announcing new signing Axel Witsel, who has arrived on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund. The Spanish capital club need to bring in €40 million from player sales before being able to sign new ones.

As a result, it had led to speculations that Diego Simeone’s side might consider terminating Griezmann’s loan stint to trim down their bloated wage bill.

However, it seems like the French international will be staying put at the Wanda Metropolitano, as suggested by his activity on Twitter. So, Atletico Madrid will likely have to find new ways to make cuts to their wage bill.

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— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) June 29, 2022

Having returned to Atletico last summer, Griezmann endured a disappointing 2020/21 campaign during which he netted just three goals in La Liga. He will be hoping for a major improvement on those returns this season.