Barcelona resigned to paying Griezmann's release clause

Atletico Madrid unwilling to negotiate

Posted Thursday, July 11, 2019 by Marca.com

Barcelona have started contacting banks as they look to sign Antoine Griezmann for 120 million euros in the coming days.

The Catalan side had looked to negotiate with Atletico Madrid in order to try and pay the sum in instalments, but Los Rojiblancos were unwilling to allow Barcelona to do this.

Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin stood firm in his desire to not negotiate with the Azulgrana, as he told Barcelona's CEO Oscar Grau in their meeting last Thursday. In the last few days Grau tried a new approach in order to try and reach an agreement, but Gil Marin was unmoved.

One thing that could have made a deal possible is Nelson Semedo making the move to the Spanish capital, a player Diego Simeone wanted, but Ernesto Valverde and the Barcelona board did not want to part ways with the Portuguese right-back as they view him as an important member of the squad for next season.

As such, Barcelona have started talking to banks in order to raise the 120m euros necessary to pay Griezmann's release clause. The idea is to deposit the money at LaLiga's headquarters this week, which would enable his presentation to take place on Saturday. If not, it could be delayed until the first few days of next week.