Barcelona announced the signing of Antoine Griezmann on Friday after
the Spanish champions paid La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid the 120
million euro ($135 million) release clause required to sign the World
Cup winner.
“The player will sign a contract with his new club for the next five
seasons, through to 30 June 2024, with a buyout clause of 800 million
euros,” Barca said in a statement.
Friday’s announcement brings to an end a dispute between the two
clubs and Griezmann, who had long aimed to move to the Catalan giants.
The 28-year-old failed to show up for his side’s pre-season gathering
on Sunday after he had announced in May he would be leaving the Wanda
Metropolitano, even though he could not reveal his destination until his
release clause dropped from 200 million euros to 120 million euros at
the start of the month.
last week Atletico accused Barcelona and Griezmann of a “lack of
respect” after the Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealed the two
clubs had held talks about the former Real Sociedad forward.
Atletico also claimed that Griezmann had told the club that he had
struck a deal with Barcelona in March, just days before the second leg
of their Champions League last-16 tie with Juventus, which saw them
dumped out by a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick after winning the first leg
2-0 in Madrid.
Griezmann joined Atletico in 2014 and has scored 133 goals in 257 appearances, lifting the Europa League in 2018.
He finished top scorer at Euro 2016 when France was beaten in the
final on home soil by Portugal before helping to guide his team to World
Cup triumph in Russia last year.
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