The soap opera is over and Simeone will no longer have to use a calculator or percentages to know when he can field Griezmann, something he has done throughout the start of the season.
The two-year loan agreement for which the Frenchman returned to the Metropolitano included a mandatory buyout of 40 million euros in case the player played more than 30 minutes in 50% of the matches he was available during the loan period.
Atletico studied the situation and tried to negotiate with Barcelona a significant reduction of that amount. They were not willing to pay the agreed amount for a player whose performance had dropped and who will be 32 years old at the end of the current season.
The Catalan club refused outright and referred to the original agreement. So Atletico crunched the numbers.
Griezmann could only play more than half an hour in a maximum of 10 official matches. In the rest, 30 minutes or less.
Barca, faced with this new framework, even considered denouncing the Madrid club for possible non-compliance or bad faith. But, finally, they have agreed to lower the amount to be paid, which is now fixed, whatever the Frenchman plays, at 20 million plus another four million in variables.
A positive agreement for all three parties. Follow Atletico's next game against Girona with Flashscore, where Griezmann could finally get a run of starts under his belt.
