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Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany has revealed a deal has been struck to make Antoine Griezmann’s loan spell at Atletico Madrid permanent.
Griezmann joined Atletico on a two-year loan deal last season, which reportedly contained a €40million purchase obligation if he played at least 30 minutes in a percentage of the team’s games.
That clause has led Atletico to manage Griezmann’s minutes in the season’s early weeks; although the forward has appeared in all eight of Los Colchoneros’ league games this campaign, he played under 30 minutes in six of those contests.
It was suggested the two LaLiga giants had reached an agreement worth €19.9million for Griezmann’s services earlier this week, and Xavi intimated such reports were correct on Saturday.
Speaking at Barcelona’s general assembly on Sunday, Alemany confirmed Griezmann was set to stay in Madrid, saying: “It has been closed this week.
“I think that, in my opinion, it has been important because we took away an important salary.”
Alemany also discussed Barcelona’s movements in the recent transfer window, in which they agreed big-money deals for the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde, as well as signing several free agents.
The Blaugrana director said those additions have brought additional quality to Camp Nou, also highlighting the importance of selling Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Chelsea.
“Aubameyang’s [sale] was an extraordinary operation, not only because economically it was good, but also because it generated fair play for us,” he added.
“We have focused on renewing young players and cutting contracts for veteran players, with more than 30 years of age.
“Increasingly we have to focus on the market of players who are free. This year we have done it with [Franck] Kessie, [Andreas] Christensen, Marcos Alonso and [Hector] Bellerin, and there are many more for the future.
“On the other hand, Kounde, Raphinha and Lewandowski have given us a quality leap in the squad.
“All three have shown that they wanted to come here. Lewandowski, despite the fact that he has just turned 34, what he shows us every day is that his real age is 24 years.”
