Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:13 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 22:16

Barcelona will also rent Antoine Griezmann to Atlético Madrid next season, report marca and ASH† Barça received a message from the Spanish capital on Wednesday that the option is triggered by Atlético. The Catalans therefore know that the chance of a final takeover for 40 million euros is enormous and can already add the amount in pencil.

In the complicated deal that the Spanish superpowers concluded last year, an option to buy was included for next season. This will come into effect automatically if Griezmann plays in at least half of the official games in the 2022/23 season. Although the 31-year-old Frenchman had a difficult return season with Atlético, Diego Simeone still considers the attacker one of the most important players in the selection.

†

— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) June 29, 2022

Last season, Griezmann made just 8 goals and 7 assists in 39 appearances, a meager production compared to his peak seasons at Atletico. The shadow striker experienced those peak years in Madrid between 2014 and 2019, after which Barcelona decided to pay no less than 100 million euros for him. His adventure at the Camp Nou did not turn out to be the success he had hoped for, so a return to the Wanda Metropolitano followed on August 31 of last year. There Griezmann gets time from Simeone to regain his top form.

Griezmann himself hinted at a longer stay at Atlético on Wednesday evening before the Spanish media. The 108-time international posted a somewhat cryptic message of three emojis on Twitter, consisting of the club colors of Atlético and the emoji ATM (which actually stands for the English ATM, but of course symbolizes the football organization in this context).