Barcelona News: Atletico president slams Griezmann, claims he has proof of Barca's secret negotiation in March

What's the story?

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has slammed Antoine Griezmann for informing the club of his desire to leave at the last minute and insists that they have evidence of the Frenchman's secret negotiation with Barcelona back in March.

In case you didn't know...

Barcelona confirmed that they signed Griezmann on a five-year deal on Friday after his €120 million release clause was paid at the La Liga headquarters in Madrid.

The transfer process turned bitter in recent weeks after Atletico Madrid claimed that the France international had secret negotiations with the Catalan giants back in March when his release clause was at €200 million. The buy-out clause dropped to €120 million at the start of July.

Following Barcelona's announcement, the Rojiblancos released a statement claiming that they are owed an additional €80 million to officially validate the transfer. The club believes a greater fee must be paid since the Spanish champions had approached Griezmann before the appropriate period.

The heart of the matter

Speaking on RAC1, Cerezo slammed Griezmann's attitude during the transfer process and claimed that the club had proof that he had negotiated early with Barcelona.

He said (via Marca), "If the club have made this statement it's because there's evidence. We have to study it and we'll demand the amount we consider to be necessary."

"I'm disappointed by his [Griezmann's] attitude. He wanted to leave but he didn't tell us until the last minute."

He added, "They've made a great signing. We didn't want him to leave but he made his decision and we'll see if it's the right one or not."

What's next?

Barcelona are yet to respond to Atletico Madrid's claims and are currently preparing for Griezmann's official unveiling at Camp Nou on Sunday.