Spanish giant Barcelona superstar Antoine Griezmann has confirmed that he will be staying put on loan at Atletico Madrid for the upcoming campaign.
Griezmann transferred from Atletico Madrid to Barcelona in the summer of 2019, but he struggled to live up to expectations after spending a large sum of money to join the team.
On the final day of the summer transfer window a year ago, the Blaugrana sent him back to Wanda Metropolitano due to his poor form and Barça’s need to reduce payroll costs.
The two teams agreed on a two-year loan deal after which Atleti will have an obligation to sign the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner on a permanent transfer.
Much like Barça last year, Atletico Madrid are struggling to stay within the salary limit imposed by La Liga. The impending return of loanees Alvaro Morata and Saul Niguez, both of whom are on high wages, is only set to push them further off the limits.
It has stopped Los Rojiblancos from announcing new signing Axel Witsel, who has arrived on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund. The Spanish capital club need to bring in €40 million from player sales before being able to sign new ones.
As a result, it had led to speculations that Diego Simeone’s side might consider terminating Griezmann’s loan stint to trim down their bloated wage bill.
However, it seems like the French international will be staying put at the Wanda Metropolitano, as suggested by his activity on Twitter. So, Atletico Madrid will likely have to find new ways to make cuts to their wage bill.
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— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) June 29, 2022