A labyrinth around Griezmann: 40 million that scare Atlético and a pressure tactic against Barça

• Direct Athletic - Porto (9:00 p.m.)

It is most likely that tonight, when the clock strikes (more or less) 10:15 p.m., Antoine Griezmann will be ready on the Metropolitano band to enter the field and face Porto (9:00 p.m.).

That has been the constant in the strange dawn of the French season.

He broke in in the 62nd minute in Getafe and the sequence, almost traced, has been repeated like a hypnotic déjà vu in the rest of the league days: Villarreal (62'), Valencia (64') and Real Sociedad (63').

Few doubt that against Porto, in the first step at rojiblanco in this Champions League, Antoine awaits that last half hour that is on the way to being baptized as the Griezmann area.

This curious vaudeville, logically, is not a favorite dish for any of the three parties involved.

Much less for French.

You have to go back to the frantic August 31, 2021 to find the origin.

Barcelona, ​​with their accounts in tatters, had been wanting to get rid of Griezmann all summer.

He even came to propose a barter with

.

And Atlético, faced with the efforts of Diego Pablo Simeone, promoter and defender of the striker's return, ended up executing the operation with the sand on the clock consumed.

The agreement, yes, contemplated a clause that today frightens the rojiblanco pocket: if Antoine plays 45 minutes in 50% of the games this season, they will have to pay 40 million to Barça for his transfer.

That's why the entanglement of that minute 60 (and peak).

The fear of a long addition by the referee restricts his presence on the grass.

No one has been clear during the preseason what Griezmann's fate would be.

Maybe not even the footballer himself.

A good offer above 40 million could have changed the fate of the Frenchman, since for Atlético it would have been a quick solution to the problem he now lives with.

Hence his name has floated in limbo all summer.

No one was sure of anything until the market closed.

There is maximum secrecy in this regard from the three parties involved.

The only illuminating phrase came from the mouth of

, who modeled him until he became a world star.

"I am a man of the club and I always will be," he said about that time limitation.

That is to say, the tactic, with that entry of the player in the 60th minute (and something), is to pressure Barça to reach an agreement that satisfies everyone. And that happens, in the first place, by filing the 40 million of the mandatory purchase that is in your contract.

Its current market value, according to the specialized website Transfermarkt, is 35

.

Through the minds of the azulgrana, it does not happen to meet either the record or the figure of the Frenchman.

An uncomfortable and unsightly situation that does not seem to be an obstacle for Griezmann to dispute his third

.

Antoine has the trust of Deschamps, as well as that of Simeone, the same guy who showed up at his house that afternoon in May 2018 to persuade him that his future lay with Atlético.

The connection between the two goes beyond football.

The Frenchman did not hesitate to get off the ground (about 10 net is the current one) to return to his side and he does not have in mind to leave Madrid again.

"It gives us things that others do not have"

The same as with

, who in the press room of the Metropolitano, claimed a figure that he considers vital for the team's heartbeat.

Precisely him, who was signed to cover his absence, three years ago.

"I get along with him, you know. He's a world-class player and it's very good that he's with us and hasn't left. He gives us things that others don't have," reflected the Portuguese, before Simeone's attentive ear .

The normal thing is that tonight, in that 60th minute (and something), Griezmann returns to face Porto.

The same team that witnessed his return to the Metropolitano under a rain of whistles from the stands or, also, the same rival that he executed in Portugal (goal and assist) to push Atlético into the round of 16.

Sometimes there are matters that do not require more than half an hour.

Antoine has scored two goals in 109 minutes and was decisive at the Mestalla.

That half hour is, until further notice, Antoine's time.

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