Barcelona have agreed to sell Antoine Griezmann to Atletico Madrid permanently for just £17.5million – half of their original agreement.
Diego Simeone is a huge advocate of Griezmann and was the decisive factor in the club's controversial decision to re-sign the forward a year ago from Barcelona on a two-year long loan arrangement, which would become compulsory at the end of that spell for €40million (£34m).
However, that agreement became increasingly problematic as it was dependent upon a clause that ensured Griezmann was required to play a minimum number of minutes – with Atletico then trying to find a way round that to avoid paying the set amount.
