FC Barcelona: Antoine Griezmann earned only half as much as at Atlético Madrid

“Barçaleaks” by “El Mundo”

The Spanish daily newspaperEl Mundo” has dedicated itself to another personality as part of its reporting on the “Barçaleaks”: Antoine Griezmann. The focus is, among other things, on the French national player’s lucrative contract with Atlético Madrid, which he gave up in 2019 for the 120 million euro move to FC Barcelona.

According to the documents, Griezmann accepted high salary losses for the step – at Barça the 31-year-old earned just under half what he would have received in Madrid. He was already being courted by the Catalans in 2018, before he announced his extension with the “Colchoneros” until 2023 in the much-discussed documentary “La Decisión”, which was specially produced for this purpose.

The contract signed with Atlético on June 18, 2018 assured Griezmann €100 million net over five years: €17 million plus €3 million in bonuses in the 2018/19 season and €20 million in each of the following seasons. On the other hand, the contract signed in Barcelona on July 14, 2019 guaranteed Griezmann 98 million euros over five years – albeit gross. After deducting taxes, the attacker’s income was practically half that of Madrid.

Even taking into account further bonuses, Griezmann could have earned a total of 177.7 million euros gross at Barça in the best-case scenario, which is still clearly less net than at Atlético. Based on the bonuses, Griezmann received €46.5m gross in his two seasons with the Catalans before returning to Madrid on loan in 2021, while at Atlético it would have been €40m net in this period – almost twice as much .

Griezmann’s release clause at FC Barcelona dropped

The 2018 extension at Atlético also increased Griezmann’s possibility of moving to Barça as early as next year. The agreement provided for the release clause to be reduced from 200 million to 120 million euros from July 1, 2019. The Catalans completed the signing two weeks later, which caused anger on the side of the Madrilenians who complained that the player and club had reached an agreement beforehand. In the end, Barça only had to pay a €300 fine.

There is currently a “cat-and-mouse game” about Griezmann’s permanent return to Atlético, but both clubs are said to want to agree on a transfer out of court after there are ambiguities about the possible obligation to buy in the loan deal. The release clause at Barça has also fallen since July 1, 2022, according to “El Mundo”: from 800 million to 700 million euros. According to Spanish reports, however, there is a sum that is far from the clause – around 25 million euros are being traded as a possible Griezmann transfer.

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