In the last few years, not many have had quite as whirlwind a career as Antoine Griezmann. From flirting with Manchester United, giving his transfer decisions in announced broadcast specials, to joining a financially broke Barcelona and then being loaned back to Atletico. Griezmann has seen it all. However, one thing he would not have seen coming in all this is taking place before our eyes. The infamous Griezmann contract clause, which is forcing manager Diego Simeone to play him for less than 30 minutes per game only.
We take a look at this Griezmann contract clause, what its ramifications are, and why the fight between Los Cules and Atletico has turned ugly and legal. All this while the player suffers and is in limbo.
What is the Griezmann contract clause?
When Barcelona were desperate to trim their wage bill to sign players, they were willing to take financial hits in the short run to do so. This included the infamous turning of Barcelona’s economic levers off the pitch. On the pitch, they needed to offload high-earning players.
One of the biggest earners at the club was Antoine Griezmann. Furthermore, it was revealed that nearly all of Griezmann’s transfer fee was borrowed as loan by the previous administration at Barcelona.
Therefore, they had to quickly get out of this deal. Diego Simeone, being a huge fan of the player, quickly snapped him up. However, it was not without a few conditions.
Griezmann joined Atletico on loan, with a view to making it permanent for 40 mil Euros. However, the Griezmann contract clause was not a mandatory purchase option. It was a conditional option. That means, there had to be certain conditions met for the clause to become compulsory to activate. Otherwise, Atletico could negotiate a lower fee than 40 million Euros. Therefore, what followed has become a running meme, as Atletico try to save money by skirting around the clause, and Barcelona try to threaten Atletico with legal action and calls them out for being unsporting.
Griezmann’s contract details
To trigger the mandatory option of purchase, it was written in the contract that Griezmann needed to play at least 45 minutes in 14 matches for Atletico.
Therefore, to avoid the mandatory option, Simeone has brought Griezmann on near the 60′ mark in nearly every Atletico game. For his part, Griezmann has been a true professional, scoring 3 goals in 6 games, with a playing time of only 165 minutes, a far cry from his struggles at Camp Nou.
However, the repeated…
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