It’s called a well-intentioned leak, aimed at justifying a decision not necessarily well understood by Barça followers and supporters on the last day of the transfer window: why getting rid in fourth gear Antoine Griezmann, when Lionel Messi had already packed his bags a few weeks earlier, further reducing the offensive potential of Ronaldo Koeman’s team?
60 million saved
The answer is in the numbers. According to the daily Sport, close to the club, the tricolor world champion benefited from a progressive contract which allowed him to touch one million euros more each season by the end of his contract in 2024, in addition to a bonus of 2, 5 million euros if Griezmann played 60% of possible minutes, which he has done every time. The poor collective results of Barça nevertheless had a big impact on the various bonuses that the French could have touched, namely 177.5 million over 5 years in the event of victory in C1, in particular.
Our Spanish colleagues calculate that Barça still had 60 million euros to pay their minimum striker, a considerable sum for a club on the verge of bankruptcy. It is now Atlético Madrid who will be responsible for paying Grizou’s staggering salary for this season, even if one can imagine a salary renegotiation as soon as the compulsory purchase option is exercised in June 2022.