We’ve all done it on Football Manager. You want to sign a player that costs more than your entire transfer budget, so you try and load the deal with clauses to force it through. An extra £10 million if he scores 50 league goals (despite being a centre back). A cool £15 million if he wins the Ballon d’Or (he’s two and a half star rated). £20 million if he lands a space shuttle on Mars. Whatever it takes. But never has a club played the system in real life as blatantly as Atletico Madrid.
Antoine Griezmann is currently on loan in the Spanish capital from Barcelona. The France international was one of many expensive follies in recent years at Camp Nou, costing €120 million to sign from Atletico Madrid. After struggling to make an impact under the glare of one of La Liga’s big two, the decision was made to loan him back to familiar pastures. He was sent back to Diego Simeone’s side last summer on a one-year deal with an option of another.
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That option was taken up this summer, much to the chagrin of parts of the Atleti hierarchy. But a coach as embedded as Simeone generally gets what he wants and Griezmann rejoined. But this is where things get complicated.
There is a clause in the loan deal that puts the Madrid side on the hook for a permanent deal priced between €40 million and €50 million if the forward plays more than 30 minutes in 50% of Atletico’s games. Considering he’s 31 and no longer at his peak physically, this would simply be bad business. But Simeone didn’t earn a reputation as one of football’s elite sh*thouses for nothing. Where there’s a will there's a way.
28, 28, 26, 27, 27. No, these aren’t the Rotten Tomatoes scores for the last five Marvel movies. These are the minutes Griezmann has played in each La Liga game so far this season. The Champions League is a similar story, with 27 and 29 minute cameos in Atleti’s first two games. Griezmann has spent more time on the bench than Ricky Gervais and that old lady in Afterlife.
It has actually suited Griezmann down to the ground. Shorn of the responsibility as a perceived star player, he has netted three goals as a super-sub this season. His winner against Porto 11 minutes into injury time in the Champions League stands out. But the move does not suit Barcelona at all, a fact they’ve reportedly made clear.
You can see why a club who takes the fairness and sanctity of transfers so seriously would be upset. Barcelona, who are under a mountain of debt but still signed seven players this summer, including Robert Lewandowski, have every right to act as moral arbiters. The Catalan giants, who could not even legally register most of their new men until weeks into this season because it would break La Liga rules to do so, are the sympathetic party here. The Camp Nou club who would not let Frenkie de Jong leave until another club paid the money that they themselves owe him, but tried to force him out anyway, are truly on the moral high ground here.
Which brings us to the core issue at hand; the fact this is all really funny. Atletico are not breaking any rules. They are honouring their contract with Barcelona to the letter. Thanks to Griezmann’s impactful work from the bench, they’re actually getting away with it too. Reports emerging from Spain suggest talks are in place to try and come to a compromise over the fee, with a more palatable figure around €23 million touted. In this case though, football would be all the poorer for common sense prevailing. All hail Antoine Griezmann, football’s 30 minute man.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
