It’s no secret that Barcelona have been run into the ground over the past few years, but some of their transfer dealings and financial decisions are genuinely astounding when laid bare.
Antoine Griezmann appears to be the biggest mistake that they made in the transfer market, while his confidence is shot to bits and he looks like a shadow of his former self.
When you also consider that he turned 30 earlier this year then Barca were never going to make a profit be selling him this summer, but these details really do make for grim reading:
Barcelona selling Griezmann back to Atletico for €40 million, two years after paying €120 million to sign him – a transfer fee funded by taking out a short-term €35 million bank loan and mortgaging €85 million of future income.
An era-defining shambles
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) August 31, 2021
Everything about that from the actual amounts involved to the explanation of how they managed to make the transfer happened is troubling, but you also have to bear in mind that he’s reportedly on £795k per week.
It’s impossible to see a situation where Atleti are going to match that, so they’ll either need him to take a massive pay cut or Barca will need to keep paying a big chunk of that salary for the remainder of his contract – a mix of the two is the most likely outcome.
From a playing point of view it would be great to see him return to form, but Barca fans will be far too aware that they’ve helped Atletico out with Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann over the past couple of years.
This transfer illustrates exactly why Barca in such a mess just now, and it’s going to take time to recover from it.