Barcelona FC on Friday announced that they had signed Atletico Madrid forward, Antoine Griezmann for 120million euros (£107.5million). Posting on Twitter of Friday, Barcelona said:
You were waiting for this.
You were waiting for this. pic.twitter.com/vVR0Prmy0b
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 12, 2019
The announcement, however, got the attention of Atletico Madrid which has since threatened legal action against the Catalans. In a statement, Atletico Madrid said:
Griezmann, represented by his lawyer, has appeared at the headquarters of the Professional Football League to unilaterally terminate the contract that links the player with Atletico.
Atletico believes that the amount deposited is insufficient since it is obvious that the commitment of the player and Barcelona was closed before the aforementioned clause was reduced from 200 to 120 million euros.
Atletico believes that the termination of the contract happened before the end of the last season and therefore has initiated procedures it has deemed appropriate to protect their rights and lawful interests.
Telegraph Sport revealed that Barcelona would meet the clause but Atletico argue that they are actually due 200million euros (£179million) because, they claim, an agreement was reached three months ago behind their backs.
If that was the case then the higher figure, the previous clause, would be due but Atletico would have to prove an agreement was formalised between Barcelona and the French international.
More: BBC Sport
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