September 01, (THEWILL) – Antoine Griezmann completed a successful loan move back to his former club La Liga champions Atletico Madrid from Catalan club Barcelona in the final day of the transfer season after it became almost unresolved how to move forward with the striker and free some of the wage bill.
At the top of the transfer season, it appeared action was going to be accelerated to move some big earners at the club to ease the financial burden on Barcelona’s bottom line and Griezmann was high on that list. Yet, it took the very final hours of the transfer deadline to make it happen.
Griezmann now returns to Los Colchoneros on a two-year contract for a €10 million ($12m) loan deal with an option to stay permanently for around €40m ($47m), at the end of the season as the club continues to deal with its tight financial restrictions.
Griezmann’s move will be most pleasing for Atletico manager Diego Simeone. Since his French forward moved to Camp Nou, Simeone had been desperate to have him back at the club. That has now aligned with Griezmann’s desire from the beginning of the summer.
As Atletico execute the defense of their 2020/2021 title, Simeone will now have the luxury of being able to feature Joao Felix, Griezmann and Luis Suarez together spearheading the forward line for the club. Griezmann, meanwhile, will be hoping to rejuvenate his La Liga reputation as a lethal forward.
The 30-year-old left Atletico for Barca in a €120m deal in 2019, but he struggled to live up to expectations at Camp Nou, scoring 22 league goals in two seasons with Barcelona.
Apart from Griezmann, Barca eased more of their debt problems with exits of Ilaix Moriba to RB Leipzig for an initial €16m and Emerson Royal to Tottenham for €25m on Tuesday, as THEWILL reported.
Meanwhile, the final day transfer drama finished with Luuk de Jong returning to join Barcelona from Sevilla while Saúl Niguez moved to English Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea from Atletico.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
