Everything seemed to be running smoothly at Atletico Madrid on Monday following their three-goal victory over Getafe, but the harmony has been rudely interrupted.
The problem is Antoine Griezmann. The French forward has been featuring regularly throughout preseason and although he started on the bench against Getafe, looked razor-sharp when he came on. Linking up with Joao Felix, it took him just 13 minutes to get his first goal of the season.
However according to Alexis Martin, as referenced by Mundo Deportivo, Atletico Madrid have told Griezmann that they are not relying on him this season. It is not yet known whether manager Diego Simeone is of the same opinion.
Sport go on to say that Atletico Madrid are reluctant to pay the €40m fee they could be due to Barcelona at the end of the season. If Griezmann plays at least 45 minutes in 50% of the matches he is available for across the two years of his loan, then Los Rojiblancos would be due the significant outlay contractually.
As pointed out, Griezmann reached that figure 33 times out of 40 last season (82.5%), meaning it would have to be a significantly lower figure this season. It may be that they merely open talks with Barcelona to try and lower the fee.
Supposedly part of the reason for their reticence is another star forward. In spite of public pronouncements and fan protests, the idea of recruiting Cristiano Ronaldo remains present at Atletico Madrid.
Given Griezmann’s advancing age and limited impact last season, it is understandable that they might not want to shell out such a quantity on the Frenchman if he was not a starter this season. However it would be remarkable if Los Colchoneros deliberately left Griezmann out of the team for around three quarters of their matches in order to avoid that ending.
