Joan Laporta reveals when Atletico Madrid will be forced to buy Antoine Griezmann

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed when Atletico Madrid’s obligatory option to buy on Antoine Griezmann will be activated.

Griezmann joined Atletico on a season-long loan deal on deadline deal, but the loan includes both the option of an extra year and an obligatory option to buy worth around €40million.

Those two almost contrasting terms caused confusion for many people, but Laporta has now revealed the option to buy clause will be automatically activated if the French forward plays a certain amount of games.

“Atletico’s option to buy will be activated if he plays 50% of the games that he is available for,” he said, as cited by Diario AS.

Griezmann largely struggled at Barca following his 2019 move worth more than €100million.

The Frenchman was not a complete failure, keeping fit and scoring 22 times in 74 La Liga appearances, but he did fail to live up to his fee.

And it wasn’t for a lack of trying, as Laporta readily admits.

“We hoped for a lot from him, but he has given his all,” added the Barcelona president.

“He never had a bad attitude. I have sent him a message wishing him the best personally and professionally.

“In football terms, he wasn’t a player that we needed. He was important in the Copa.”

Tags Antoine Griezmann Joan Laporta
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