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On 12 July 2019, FC Barcelona completed the transfer of 28-year-old Antoine Griezmann. Donning curly golden hair, he looked different from the man who won the prestigious World Cup just 12 months ago.
His record of 21 goals and 10 assists in the 2018/19 season for Atletico was more than enough to convince Barcelona to pay his €120 million release clause. A lot was expected of him from the start, but his first season in Catalonia saw him being a poor performer and a target of constant criticism from both the media and fans.
Griezmann's position in the FC Barcelona setup
On 22 March 2021, former Barcelona player and director of football Eric Abidal made a claim,
"If we didn't sign Griezmann before, I think 100 per cent we could have re-signed Neymar because what we needed was a winger and when Neymar was in Barcelona he was amazing," he said.
It's indeed true that Barcelona have been lacking a world-class left-winger since Neymar's departure. The €110 million invested in Dembele hasn't been fruitful yet. Griezmann isn't a winger but he plays behind the striker; is an elite goal scorer and is good at finding spaces.
But in FC Barcelona Lionel Messi plays a similar role. With the signing of Agüero and Depay and the latter also operating in a similar role, Griezmann might find it hard to be a regular starter for Koeman's team.
It must be noted that Griezmann has publicly expressed his desire to get a free role with the ball as he does in the France national team on multiple occasions previously.
If he's off to a rusty start to the season like he had in the first 2 seasons at Barcelona, Depay, a player who was quite wanted by Koeman, will easily replace him. Not to forget, the promising La Masia star Ansu Fati's return from injury will add to Barcelona's attacking options.
Economic situation of FC Barcelona
The second and obvious reason is the economic situation. Barcelona is reportedly facing bankruptcy and the new Barcelona president Laporta's primary target would be to save as much money as possible. He also intends to convert short-term debts to long-term debts by taking loans.
Last year's financial report showed that the first-team squad picked up a whopping €235million in wages. Antoine Griezmann is the second-highest-paid player after Messi with an annual salary of about €45 million.
Though he faced a goal drought at the start of the season, Griezmann ended the season on a high and is one of the leading goal contributors (Goals+Assists) in 2021.
He scored some important goals, notably the brace against Athletic Club in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. He added another brace in the famous comeback against Granada in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey.
Griezmann is having a decent run at the Euros too, which might be the perfect opportunity for Barcelona to gain a considerable amount of money from transfer fees and free up the enormous wage bill.
The money could be invested in a center back like Aymeric Laporte or Lisandro Martinez, the former just about to enter the peak of his powers and the latter a bright prospect. Barcelona might also want a Left back to have competition for Alba and possibly an experienced midfielder when they challenge Europe.
All this can be fulfilled with the transfer of Griezmann, whose monetary value might supersede his sporting value, especially in a COVID-19-hit non-inflated market. One must also keep in mind that he is already 30 and his monetary value would only decrease with age.
Griezmann is a fantastic player and his work rate and commitment to the badge are quite visible on the field. Even in games where he didn't contribute much in attack, he tracks back on defense and made some great clearances last season.
But Barcelona needs money and for that they'll have to make some really tough decisions. Letting Griezmann go might just be the first of those.
