Antoine Griezmann’s Barcelona transfer could be BLOCKED, says La Liga chief
La Liga president Javier Tebas has weighed in on the controversial transfer of French star Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona, saying that the deal could potentially be blocked following an official complaint by Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona revealed that they had activated the World Cup winner’s €120 million (US$133 million) release clause on July 12.
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However, that clause had dropped less than two weeks prior on July 1 from €200 million owing to language in the player’s contract – with the Madrid club adamant that they are owed the larger sum because the Catalan side had begun negotiations with the player while the initial clause was still valid.
Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, announced to Spanish publication Onda Cero that his office can act as an arbiter in the dispute between the two clubs, potentially opening the way to the transfer being declared null and void.
“It is possible to block a player’s transfer,” Tebas said. “La Liga will have to decide what course of action to take.”
“[Atletico] submitted a complaint and put in doubt whether we should pass Griezmann’s licence to Barcelona. There’s a process that has been put in motion and those overseeing it will have to come to resolve the case.”
Griezmann completed his transfer to Atletico’s Spanish rivals following five successful seasons in red and white, which saw him score 133 times in 257 senior appearances, marking him as one of global football’s top talents during that time.
Prior interest in Griezmann from Barcelona was referred to FIFA by Atletico in 2017 amid accusations that the player was subject to an ‘illegal approach’. Barcelona renewed their interest last summer, though that was reportedly rebuffed by the player.
Diego Simeone, Atletico’s head coach, has already spent a large sum of money in an apparent replacement for Griezmann in Portuguese wonderkid Joao Felix, who completed a €126 million move from Benfica earlier this month.
Should La Liga take the drastic step in annulling the transfer of Griezmann to Barcelona it would represent a huge blow to the Spanish champions, particularly in the wake of Belgian superstar Eden Hazard’s big-money move to Real Madrid from Chelsea, and with no apparent breakthrough as of yet in their pursuit of re-signing Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.
Grizemann has already appeared for his new team in a pre-season fixture against Chelsea.