Barcelona Announce Signing Of Antoine Griezmann

FC Barcelona officially unveiled Antoine Griezmann as a new summer signing on Friday morning. The French striker was formally of Atletico Madrid, who finished second in the Spanish league last season. Griezmann also won the World Cup in 2018 with his French side. According to the official Barcelona website, the club paid 120 million euros ($134 million) to Atletico Madrid for their front-man. Griezmann signed a five-year deal that would see him with the club until June of 2024, with a $900 million buyout clause, according to Bleacher Report.

Griezmann will surely slot right into the first team, alongside Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez. It’s uncertain how manager Ernesto Valverde plans to line up his side, but it will incorporate Griezmann someway. Griezmann started his career in the Spanish league playing as a winger, but moved to play up front centrally for Atletico Madrid. He can also play attacking midfield, which is the position he plays for his international team.

Barcelona has had multiple reports about them also acquiring Neymar Jr. back, who is currently playing for PSG. Multiple sources have confirmed that Neymar is not at the PSG preseason training, and might be seeking at move back at the Camp Nou. They would surely have to give PSG one of their attacking options in a trade for Neymar, perhaps his international counterpart Coutinho. According to Marca, Coutinho is no longer in Valverde’s plans for the upcoming season, and will be used in the trading block to try to acquire Neymar.

Atletico knew that Griezmann was on the move after declaring his transfer request earlier this summer. Atletico already went out and signed 19-year-old Portuguese international Joao Felix, who took Griezmann’s No. 7 jersey before he was even transferred.

Nevertheless, Griezmann is a fantastic signing by Barcelona, as he provides himself as a major goal threat up front, and known to be a creator as well. He scored 32 goals in 2015, 26 in 2016, 29 in 2017 and 21 in last year’s competition. Barcelona seems to be trying to capture the league title once again after last year’s campaign, and make a strong run in the Champions League.