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Barcelona have finally announced the signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid for 120 million euros (£107.5 million), thereby putting an end to a tedious transfer saga.
The 28-year-old has signed a five-year deal with the Catalan giants who slapped a staggering 800 million euro (£717 million) release clause on him.
Following weeks of speculation, the Spanish champions triggered Griezmann's buy-out clause which dropped to 120 million euros at the start of July.
The Blaugrana have gotten into some trouble regarding the release clause after Atletico Madrid claimed that the club had held secret negotiations with Griezmann back in March when his buy-out value was still 200 million euros (£179million).
The France international was further summoned to the first day of pre-season training as part of his contractual obligations but refused to join the Atletico players, prompting the club to threaten punishment.
Shortly after Barcelona's announcement of their newest recruit, the Rojiblancos declared that they are actually owed 200 million euros for the transfer because of the arrangement made behind their backs three months ago.
In a statement, Atletico Madrid said, "Atletico de Madrid considers that the deposited amount is insufficient to cover his buyout clause since it is obvious that the agreement between the player and FC Barcelona was closed before the clause was reduced from EUR 200million to EUR 120million."
"Atletico de Madrid believes the termination of the contract happened before the end of the last season due to facts, acts and demonstrations made by the player and therefore has already initiated the procedures it has deemed appropriate to protect their rights and lawful interests."
Griezmann joined Atletico Madrid from Real Sociedad in 2014 and has since netted 133 goals in 256 appearances for the club.
The forward was a key figure in Diego Simeone's squad having helped the team to the Europa League, the Spanish Super Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup during his five-year stint with the Madrid outfit.
Twitter has since exploded with hilarious reactions to the news:
