Antoine Griezmann is in an unenviable situation at Atlético Madrid.
Griezmann is back with Atlético in the second season of a two-year loan from Barcelona, but that loan contains a clause that is making life extremely awkward for him and his manager Diego Simeone right now.
Should Griezmann play more than 45 minutes in more than half of Atlético’s games over the two-season loan, then the club would be obliged to purchase him from Barca for €40 million.
And it’s pretty clear that Atlético would rather not pay that fee.
Griezmann has been used off the bench in all three of his appearances this season, during which he’s scored two goals. That comes after he started 21 of his 26 league games for Atlético last season.
As speculation over the club intentionally benching him grows, Simeone essentially confirmed that was the case in a press conference on Friday.
When asked if he was being told by Atlético higher-ups to limit the Frenchman’s minutes, Simeone said: “They have known me for 10 years. I am a club man and always will be.”
This situation, unsurprisingly, isn’t going down well with Griezmann. According to L’Equipe, the 31-year-old has asked Atlético to negotiate a lower fee with Barcelona and activate the purchase clause as soon as possible.
Here’s hoping that some kind of an agreement can be reached, because this is only going to get more awkward as the season goes on.
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