Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann will have a buyout clause of €800m at Barcelona and a contract that runs until 30 June 2024. Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images
Antoine Griezmann will have a buyout clause of €800m at Barcelona and a contract that runs until 30 June 2024. Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images

Barcelona sign Antoine Griezmann and make buyout clause €800m

This article is more than 4 years old
  • Atlético say they will take Barça to court to get €200m for player
  • Spanish champions met forward’s reduced €120m buyout clause

Antoine Griezmann has joined Barcelona from Atlético Madrid after
the Catalan club announced they had paid his €120m (£107.6m) buyout fee.

The 28-year-old France forward will sign a five-year contract that ties him to the Camp Nou until 30 June 2024 though Atlético believe they are owed €80m more Griezmann. They claim the player made an agreement to join Barcelona before July, when the buyout clause was still set at €200m, and have announced their intention to take the Spanish champions to court.

“Atlético de Madrid believes that the amount deposited is insufficient to meet its rescission clause, since it is obvious that the commitment of the player and that of Football Club Barcelona was closed before the aforementioned clause was reduced from €200m to €120m [on 1 July],” read a statement. “It was also prior to the date on which the clause was modified the communication that the player made on 14 May announcing his disengagement from the club.” The Spanish champions claim they only started to talking to Griezmann on 4 July.

“With his arrival at FC Barcelona, the Frenchman takes another step forward in his career with the goal of consolidating his place as one of the best players in the world,” the Spanish league champions said in a statement. Griezmann’s contract with Barça will have a buyout clause of €800m, they added.

Quick Guide

Football's top 10 most expensive transfers

Show

1 Neymar, Barcelona to PSG, 2017, £200.6m
2 Kylian Mbappé Monaco to PSG, 2017, £128m 
3 Antoine Griezmann, Atlético Madrid to Barcelona, 2019, £107.6m
4 Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018, £106.4m 
5 Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid to Juventus, 2018, £99.2m 
6 Ousmane Dembélé, Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, 2017, £96.8m
7 Paul Pogba, Juventus to Manchester United, 2016, £89m 
8 Gareth Bale, Tottenham to Real Madrid, 2013, £85.3m 
9 Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United to Real Madrid, 2009, £80m 
10 Gonzalo Higuaín, Napoli to Juventus, 2016, £75.3m

Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
Was this helpful?

Griezmann had been heavily linked with a move to Barça last summer but ended up signing a new contact with Atlético until 2023. However, the 2018 World Cup winner spent only one more season at Atlético before announcing in May that he would be leaving the club this summer.

The former Real Sociedad forward leaves after five prolific seasons in the capital in which he scored 133 goals as well as helping the club win the Europa League, Uefa Super Cup and Spanish Supercopa.

Griezmann has become the third most-expensive signing in football history, behind Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, who Barcelona have again been linked with after Paris St Germain’s sporting director, Leonardo ,said he was prepared to sell the Brazil forward. Neymar was scheduled to report back to the French club’s training ground on Monday but was absent without leave

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

Most viewed

Most viewed