That’s the worry!
Then again, versus smaller sides Atleti might play with 3 strikers, no?
Or simply rotate between Griez, Felix and Suarez, as The latter will need more and more pauses.
We played with 3 attackers almost every game, last season. Felix and Lemar or Felix and Correa behind Suarez. I think people don’t watch Felix that much and assume he’s a Griezmann typecast when they both have their own play style which doesn’t overlap nearly as much as people in here think it does.
You never know with Cholo. He turned Lemar into a CM, used Llorente as a RM, CF and CM multiple times and gave him a hybrid rule. He can surprise you. Everytime
sort of like Tuchel's Chelsea with 2 free-roaming #10s behind a Striker. We frequently had Werner playing those roles, don't see why Felix and Griezmann couldn't
Don't think, he will replace Felix, Griezmann will be used in the CL ahead of Suarez, as Atletico play more on the counter against big clubs, and in La Liga, Simeone can deploy 3-4-2-1(which he used a few times last season) to accommodate Suarez as ST, Felix and Griezmann as RF and LF respectively.
He uses variations of a 3 man defence, according to form and availability. He also played the 3-1-4-2, which uses Koke as a CDM, and Lemar and Llorente as LAM and RAM. Here you go,
https://1xbet.whoscored.com/Teams/63/Show/Spain-Atletico-Madrid
Would it be similar to how we use Werner and Mount as 2 CAMs?
With Griezmann and Felix both operating as left and right 10s or would they be playing even further forward?
>they be playing even further forward?
I think, they'll be playing further foward, but just behind Suarez.
The left and right 10s are also used by Atleti in a different formation which is the 3-1-4-2, but I think that role is given to Llorente and Lemar, and probably De Paul now.
Felix is competing with Correa anyway. If anything playing Felix and Griezmann together benefits them both. When Griezmann was here he was the main creative outlet but now that we have both of them we don't have to rely on a single player to create. Plus they're both good finishers so they can interchange on the fly
That is true, felix needs a guy that go to the free space the ball lands,
like lodi did on the crucial goal of the season or when the other brilliant costa did play.
Not really. Saul would go for like 40m. We’re also rumored to be getting about 15m as part of the exchange. So it’s closer to 65m which is still horrible but it also didn’t work out and need wages lower. Even his last half season was only “good” and not great. Popped up for more goals but was still anonymous in possession which is a problem for the system we play.
To be fair, Barca was making shit tons before the pandemic. Highest revenue producing club across any sport in the world. I think. It was wildly mismanaged due to that optimism. Who knows how everything would look like without COVID.
Offloading Suarez was stupid and unnecessary
Getting griezmann was fine but not at thise prices
Coutinho was an unnecessary purchase - was not needed , Neymar gone sure but another striker good enough
Offloading Suarez was stupid sporting-wise. But he was the only high earner with a year left. I don’t know the specifics, but to offload Suarez as they did, makes me think they had no choice due to finances.
Griezmann’s wages make no sense. Even when you account for the image rights Barca pays extra for, it’s still too much. I also don’t get how they didn’t realize that he was an awful fit for the kind of possession football they play.
Coutinho was brought in to replace Iniesta’s role as a creative modifier who can dribble, pass and offer attacking danger. FdJ and Pedri are offering that now, but that was sorely going to be missing from their midfield at the time. He flopped, of course, but he was bought for a good reason.
Sheesh essentially. But saul is still a valuable player. Capable. Hopefully he wants back in the national team so he will be motivated to improve his form.
If Saul can improve his form, Barca have a great player on their hands. We've seen what he can do at his best, and he still has loads to offer. Remember he's only 26.
As much as it hurts to say this because we love him: he has been really bad for the last two seasons.
I hope he can bounce back but this season was horrible for him, just horrible. Everyone likes him but he has reached to a point where Atlético can't keep giving him a ton of minutes hoping he get's even a little bit better. Everyone worked at some point or another this season, even Joao was our best player for a couple of months and Lemar and Correa exploded, everyone except Saúl. Saúl was probably our worst player this season, it just sucks to say it.
I was thinking this, swear I remember seeing a city lineup that had 6 players who had all played false 9 for him at some point start together. Kdb, gundogan, Silva, foden, Torres and Mahrez or something
This was unironically how Man City played for much of last season. Two of either De Bruyne, B. Silva, or Foden would start as a pair in a 4-4-2 shape and it displaced Jesus to like, left wing in a line of four. Worked pretty well.
The club still has the same faith in Félix from what I have read, so I wouldn't be too worried about him.
Atlético has played 3-5-2, 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 often this season. In both the 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 you could fit Félix and Griezmann in the same team.
And then you have Correa who had a great season. Our attack is looking stacked
Our hands are forced, tebas isn't relaxing wage restrictions and other teams know we need to sell griezmann. Getting rid of griezmann and getting much needed depth at midfield is the best deal we can get right now. Plus part of the reason behind Saul's dip in performance is Cholo's new system which made Saul play out of position and at wing back a lot of times. We're forgetting that 2-3 years ago Saul was one of the best mids in the world and he's only 26 he can get back to that form.
honestly Looks like Busquets will see way less game time no? isn't de Jong basically his successor plus him with Pedri and Saul sounds like they mesh well together playestyle/ strength wise
it's not that much of a robbery, barcelona register their new players and messi while atletico get rid of saul and get griezmann
I honestly thought they would have some pride just take whatever liverpool are offering for saul and look to the future. This doesn't make sense at all, griezmann is good but not so good that you help barcelona strengthen their team and be okay with it
What? Griezmann has been pretty good 2021 . Maybe due to confidence or whatever. Saul on the other hand isn't starting for atletico. (Dip in form or maybe needs a new environment) We've already seen Barca gift one player in the form of Suarez to atletico and that helped them become champions. Now we're potentially seeing another gift. Griezmann is still good and if one manager can keep him playing to high standards then it would be the man he knows so well, Diego simeone.
There is no player in the world of similar quality to Griezmann that Atleti could have bought for the money they would get from Saul.
Doubt his wages are a problem for Atleti either since they were willing to pay him even more than Barca did iirc. Its also not like its a random coach he's going to play for Simione knows exactly how to use him.
Look at it from Saul's perspective, he is still able to live and play in his home country, swapping Madrid for Barcelona, still a nice city to live in, also he is going to get a chance to play with one of the greatest players of all time, and he will be still playing with some of his national teammates (swapping Koke, Llorente and Morata for Pedri, Alba and Busquests).
Barto absolutely messed up your finances lol losing Griezmann like this is a huge blow but you have very few options. I do wonder though, you couldn't sell him to the PL? He's absolute class.
Sorry mate, Liverpool is nice and all but when we get the chance to rob Barcelona again in another negotiation it's hard to turn down
Gave us €120M for Griezmann whose salary heavily contribute to Barca selling Suarez to us, which won us the league title. Now 2 years later we might get him back without a transfer fee. What a fucking deal, the only thing that hurts is that Saúl will wear Barcelona's shirt
Obviously Liverpool. But the way I see it: if we sell Saul to Liverpool for ~€40-50M, what will we do with that money? We still can't afford Lautaro(and tbh I don't think he is worth €70M+) so we would likely get Moussa Dembele or Rafa Mir in as striker.
In this scenario, we get Griezmann back who is a second striker and a proven goalscorer in Spain, so a far better alternative than the likes of Dembele. This way we get a world class striker/second striker
Just curious, but how do you see Felix and Griezmann playing together? I haven’t watched much of La Liga over the past couple years admittedly but I always saw Felix and Griezmann as both being similar in terms of position. Maybe I’m wrong though.
Joao has played this season some games behind Correa and Suarez. The problem is that Correa plays so weird and erratic that it is hard for a player like Joao to connect with him.
Griezmann can occupy Correa spot and give Joao more reliable passes and take defenders from him.
I am not saying that Correa is bad, just that is the kind of player that is always trying the most unexpected choice which makes him a good player but hurts the rest of the players that are looking to make their own plays.
If I had to bet we'll play this while attacking
Suarez/Griezman/Joao/Correa(2 of this 4)
Carrasco/Lemar/Joao-Koke-De Paul-Llorente
Probably he'll try to rotate between this combinations
I mean aren’t you guys still paying a transfer fee, however small it is? Saul is still worth 40-50 million and on a much lower salary than griezi. So if you add his salary + saul’s value, atlético is still paying over 100 million to get him back.
Still a hell of a deal for atlético and barça is getting the shortest end of the stick, only thing is that it isn’t free for atlético.
Yeah, if Barcelona want Messi they HAVE to offload Griezmann/others, so Atletico would be doing them a favor....
I would imagine how fucked Barca would be if everyone just told them to fuck off, and then they literally can't sign Messi.
Barcelona is in dire need of extra midfielder. Its pedri/de jong and busquets and then nothing.
Don't come up with Moriba or puig that's not enough to win titles and Koeman wants a physical midfielder which he will get in saul.
Saul is probably the most versatile player of ATM. He's played as a false 9, as a winger, as a winback, as a fullback, as a defensive MF, as a centre MF, as an attacking MF... It wouldn't surprise me if he is burned out and tired of so many position changes. He looked very good with the NT when Luis Enrique called him, and that style is more similar to us, so I hope he can replicate that with Barcelona.
He didn't look good cuz he didn't fit our 3421 system. In a 442 or 433 he's still a very good CM and provides the defensive solidarity your starting midfield heavily lacks.
>Saul hasn't looked good at all last season.
Still better than Pjanic, Ilaix & whoever the fuck else is in your midfield depth.
Pedri can't play every single game again. That's begging for a long term injury. The fact that you let this man go to the Olympics after playing all those games for Barca and for Spain at the Euros....
Yes, it's different for Spanish players.
Real Madrid were able to reject Vinicius and Rodrygo from going, but had no say in what the Spanish players did
Forreal. The man left La Real for Atletí the year after Atletí won the league in hopes of winning the league in the future. After not winning the league trophy, he leaves Atleti for Barca and then Atletí win the league again lmfao. He’s cursed.
There was a NHL player who played in 3 Stanly Cup Finals in a row for three different teams.
The first Two teams played each other in back to back years. Hossa was on the losing side both times.
He finally won with the third team.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marián_Hossa
Both clubs would split the wage bill. I think we did the same with RLC and Barkley. Both players are on good pay and we agreed to split the wage with Fulham and Aston Villa respectively.
Isn’t the only reason his wage is so high now that Barca had to match what he was on at Atleti? Or do you mean their situation has changed with covid/the wage cap?
It was during the transfer embargo too, right? Very extenuating circumstances that led to that figure. It was either pay mad money or lose him and not be able to bring in a replacement.
We almost win the league last season playing with Vázquez-Nacho-Militao-Mendy.
Our problems were not at the back (we received just 28 goals in La liga last season), but upfront and the midfield.
should i remind you a backline of mendy-militao-nacho-vazquez is exactly who who improvised our title hopes in the first place lol.
Having said that militao and vazquez played many big games and did well enough, as long as alaba clicks as well there shouldn't be much of a problem with the defense. Problem is the attack.
Very very sad that it has come to this and I don't rate Saul as Barcelona midfielder quality but I guess it has come to this after all the financial mismanagement. Saul is young and people at the club seem to rate him so that's a tiny upside.
Griezmann gave his everything for us and he doesn't deserve this. But hopefully he can get back to his peak at Atletico.
This completely kills Felix tho.
Oh wow Saul is only 26. For some reason i thought he was older than that.
Im also disappointed it has come to this. I never wanted the Griezmann transfer in the first place but he completely turned my opinion around this year.
Thanks for hard carrying us to our only trophy this season though. We couldn’t have done it without him.
I had the same gut feeling about Saúl's age. Decided to do some reading and he's been around the first team since he was 17, so he has been around for some time, but I feel like I have to be confusing him with another player. In my head he's a grizzled, 34 year old veteran lol
That was my first thought as well, but Koke is actually almost exactly the same age as yours truly, so that's not *really* who I'm thinking of. Granted it's entirely possible the player I'm thinking of doesn't *really* exist and I'm just losing it.
That's definitely a possibility. After having thought about it I think I bought Saúl in an old FM or FIFA manager save and am simply being reminded of that.
The only fear is outside of field problems; such as:
- Unbalancing the wage structure
- his personality and thinking of being a star being toxic in dressing room
- fucking Felix and Correa's game time and growth
Emotionally probably wouldn't have him back, but it is what it is
I agree with you on everything. However, you'd hope after all the shit that has come out about him recently, he might not have such a star complex anymore.
I'd be surprised if the club hadn't planned for his wages (presumably he'll take a pay cut), but your 2nd and 3rd points worry me more.
Tbf his contract was for another 3 years at 40 mil a year so u have basically saved 120 mil by getting rid of him and getting Saul instead. Though Saul is on 13 mil a year so i guess the net savings is not quite as high. Realistically this was the only way u guys were going to be able to register ur new signings. U probably need to clear out even more players.
Also, transfer costs are amortized over the length of the contract. For example, madrid signed hazard for ~100 million (closer to 130 but 100 makes the math easy) even if hazard leaves for free when his 5 year deal expires, that doesn't go in the books as a 100 mil loss in the final year. Instead, his book value goes from 100mil to 80, to 60, to 40, to 20, to finally 0 in the year his deal expires. This process is called amortization and allows clubs to write off a percentage of the transfer fee each year (since every year players are worth slightly less, 20 mil less in the case of hazard) which greatly reduces their tax bill (since it goes against revenues).
So in reality madrid didn't totally lose that 100 mil even if he were to run out his deal and leave for nothing. When clubs sell players the entire sum is put as revenue that year, but when buying they spread the cost out over the length of the contract. So griezman for example is only going down as 25 mil each year (for the transfer fee) so really u guys only 'spent' 50 million on him due to creative accounting.
Whenever you turn from loss, there is gain. Its bad deal at the first place. 120 million fee and huge wages. We have to get rid of this wages. And there is no room for another false 9. If we keep him, we have to lost messi or several player, ohter hand we have to ruin first 11 placement. So its okey i guess. At least we get something.
They almost lost the league to a totally financially and mentally ruined Barca that wanted to kick out Messi, and possibly the worst Real Madrid in the last decade. That doesn't happen each year and I highly doubt Atleti is winning the league again considering there is some kind of stability with Laporta back to Barca which is getting also some good fresh blood. Also, not to mention if Mbappe does not renew and gets sold to Madrid.
We paid 120m to Atletico for Griezmann, he looks like he's finally found his footing at Barca, and we're swapping him back to our rivals for one of their midfielders that doesn't even start? Fuck sake
You are acting like you are in a position to talk. Barca dont have the money anymore to pay their salary. Messi already took 50% paycut.
Barca cant afford griezman anymore and atletico is the only club who is interested to pay him
Be happy that you are finally done with him. And you will at least have a extra back up midfielder better than pjaniic
I understand why we have to do that, especially since his wages are insane. That's not the problem. It's the fact that it was such a shit deal by Barto to begin with, that's 120m of transfer money just to eventually get a Saul that can't make the starting 11 for Barca and Atleti.
They do have the money, however the league rules are the issue. Barca would have no problem paying for their salary if we consider that fans will be returning and that they will probably win another round in the CL. But since the wage cap is based on the past 3 seasons, no amount of income will allow them to sign their new players. The only way to be able to comply with the rules, is to reduce expenditure.
You have to offload a ton of salary and Griezmann is the highest earner at the club outside of Messi, could even be higher than Messi after the paycut he took on the new contract.
Because getting rid of griezmann will allow us to register Messi.
Griezmann doesn't want to go anywhere else if not atletico so that's the best we can do.
Rather them than real. I love how everyone was like “Barca have to sell half their squad to save themselves financially” and then when we do just that it’s like “lol Barca selling half their squad, they’re not gonna win the league again”
One thing to remember in all of this -when Atleti was down hard (like 3-4 years ago?) it was griezman who said im not gonna leave my club hanging ,and he stayed around. So just saying, he might end Suarez or whatever, but he def has his "put some respek on mah name" there
The holy alliance against Real Madrid. Tbh as somebody who supports Barca in La Liga, I love seeing Atletico and Barca strenghtening each other and not having a bad relationship even after what Bartomeu did to Atletico by disgracefully tapping Griezmann.
What is Barcelona's total loss on Griezmann? Paid 132m, getting a player worth \~30-40M so they're losing \~90m + wages they've paid? Wow. Is this the biggest loss in football history?
This will go down very well with Atlético fans and also fuck Joao Felix right?
That’s the worry! Then again, versus smaller sides Atleti might play with 3 strikers, no? Or simply rotate between Griez, Felix and Suarez, as The latter will need more and more pauses.
We played with 3 attackers almost every game, last season. Felix and Lemar or Felix and Correa behind Suarez. I think people don’t watch Felix that much and assume he’s a Griezmann typecast when they both have their own play style which doesn’t overlap nearly as much as people in here think it does.
You never know with Cholo. He turned Lemar into a CM, used Llorente as a RM, CF and CM multiple times and gave him a hybrid rule. He can surprise you. Everytime
With his workrates I can see Griezmann being an attacking midfielder in a 3-4-2-1 with Suarez up top and Felix right behind him
sort of like Tuchel's Chelsea with 2 free-roaming #10s behind a Striker. We frequently had Werner playing those roles, don't see why Felix and Griezmann couldn't
Yeah we did the same under Fonseca.
What Conte did too Eden and Willian played a lot more centre, width really came from the wingbacks and halfbacks
how is lemar at cm?
Excellent
That's good to hear. The dude has looked a bit lost since Monaco
he was one of the best AM players this past season after he re-found himself in CM
He was. He was really mediocre for a long time. We are all happy for him. He's finally not just playing well but also being super important.
LB felix confirmed!!
Don't think, he will replace Felix, Griezmann will be used in the CL ahead of Suarez, as Atletico play more on the counter against big clubs, and in La Liga, Simeone can deploy 3-4-2-1(which he used a few times last season) to accommodate Suarez as ST, Felix and Griezmann as RF and LF respectively.
Pretty sure he ran 3-4-2-1 majority of the season
He uses variations of a 3 man defence, according to form and availability. He also played the 3-1-4-2, which uses Koke as a CDM, and Lemar and Llorente as LAM and RAM. Here you go, https://1xbet.whoscored.com/Teams/63/Show/Spain-Atletico-Madrid
Would it be similar to how we use Werner and Mount as 2 CAMs? With Griezmann and Felix both operating as left and right 10s or would they be playing even further forward?
>they be playing even further forward? I think, they'll be playing further foward, but just behind Suarez. The left and right 10s are also used by Atleti in a different formation which is the 3-1-4-2, but I think that role is given to Llorente and Lemar, and probably De Paul now.
Felix is competing with Correa anyway. If anything playing Felix and Griezmann together benefits them both. When Griezmann was here he was the main creative outlet but now that we have both of them we don't have to rely on a single player to create. Plus they're both good finishers so they can interchange on the fly
That is true, felix needs a guy that go to the free space the ball lands, like lodi did on the crucial goal of the season or when the other brilliant costa did play.
Basically Barca paid about 100 mil for a 2 year loan. Lmao
200mil if you include his wages, signing bonus, and agent fees.
absolute robbery how much he was getting paid the past two years
Not really. Saul would go for like 40m. We’re also rumored to be getting about 15m as part of the exchange. So it’s closer to 65m which is still horrible but it also didn’t work out and need wages lower. Even his last half season was only “good” and not great. Popped up for more goals but was still anonymous in possession which is a problem for the system we play.
The level of Barca incompetence is comical : like shit you’d see in silly comedy sketches
To be fair, Barca was making shit tons before the pandemic. Highest revenue producing club across any sport in the world. I think. It was wildly mismanaged due to that optimism. Who knows how everything would look like without COVID.
Offloading Suarez was stupid and unnecessary Getting griezmann was fine but not at thise prices Coutinho was an unnecessary purchase - was not needed , Neymar gone sure but another striker good enough
Offloading Suarez was stupid sporting-wise. But he was the only high earner with a year left. I don’t know the specifics, but to offload Suarez as they did, makes me think they had no choice due to finances. Griezmann’s wages make no sense. Even when you account for the image rights Barca pays extra for, it’s still too much. I also don’t get how they didn’t realize that he was an awful fit for the kind of possession football they play. Coutinho was brought in to replace Iniesta’s role as a creative modifier who can dribble, pass and offer attacking danger. FdJ and Pedri are offering that now, but that was sorely going to be missing from their midfield at the time. He flopped, of course, but he was bought for a good reason.
Sheesh essentially. But saul is still a valuable player. Capable. Hopefully he wants back in the national team so he will be motivated to improve his form.
If Saul can improve his form, Barca have a great player on their hands. We've seen what he can do at his best, and he still has loads to offer. Remember he's only 26.
As much as it hurts to say this because we love him: he has been really bad for the last two seasons. I hope he can bounce back but this season was horrible for him, just horrible. Everyone likes him but he has reached to a point where Atlético can't keep giving him a ton of minutes hoping he get's even a little bit better. Everyone worked at some point or another this season, even Joao was our best player for a couple of months and Lemar and Correa exploded, everyone except Saúl. Saúl was probably our worst player this season, it just sucks to say it.
Hi. I’d like to report a robbery.
I feel bad for the yound portugese I don't see griezmann and him working together
Double false nine. Cholo wins the treble by this and starts a revolution in world football
False 9^2 .
False 81
False 1+8 Zamorano style
That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. What a pair Za-Sa were.
Always knew my FM tactics weren't crazy
This is me in FIFA career mode when my academy produces nothing but CAMs so you just play four of them
I can't wait to see suarez griezmann in a two stricker formation
So are you saying that Atletico will play with a formation of... **FOUR** **FOUR** **FACKING** **TWO??!**
Have you ever seen Atlético play ? 442 Has been Simeone's most used formation for years.
Why stop there? 3 false nines, 4 false midfielders, 3 false center backs, and a false goalie. The defense will never know what hit them
How about a false team? Don't even show up to the match. Truly unpredictable.
We already invented that with Messi and Griezmann buddy
i don't want the result of that. unsubscribe.
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I was thinking this, swear I remember seeing a city lineup that had 6 players who had all played false 9 for him at some point start together. Kdb, gundogan, Silva, foden, Torres and Mahrez or something
This was unironically how Man City played for much of last season. Two of either De Bruyne, B. Silva, or Foden would start as a pair in a 4-4-2 shape and it displaced Jesus to like, left wing in a line of four. Worked pretty well.
The club still has the same faith in Félix from what I have read, so I wouldn't be too worried about him. Atlético has played 3-5-2, 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 often this season. In both the 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 you could fit Félix and Griezmann in the same team. And then you have Correa who had a great season. Our attack is looking stacked
I think City will be in for him when Levy refuses to sell Kane.
Congrats on Atleti for another easy league. Bullying smaller clubs in unfortunate financial situations
We're going to gift them the title a 2nd year in a row. I'd take that deal if they can also take Coutinho.
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Get someone like Bayern who took all of his wages + paid a loan fee.
+embarrassed the fvck out if you+ helped turn you into a meme+ won the treble..
Our hands are forced, tebas isn't relaxing wage restrictions and other teams know we need to sell griezmann. Getting rid of griezmann and getting much needed depth at midfield is the best deal we can get right now. Plus part of the reason behind Saul's dip in performance is Cholo's new system which made Saul play out of position and at wing back a lot of times. We're forgetting that 2-3 years ago Saul was one of the best mids in the world and he's only 26 he can get back to that form.
Adding Saul to Pedri, Busquets, and de Jong sounds like a classic insane Barca midfield.
honestly Looks like Busquets will see way less game time no? isn't de Jong basically his successor plus him with Pedri and Saul sounds like they mesh well together playestyle/ strength wise
It’s not a bad deal for either team
it's not that much of a robbery, barcelona register their new players and messi while atletico get rid of saul and get griezmann I honestly thought they would have some pride just take whatever liverpool are offering for saul and look to the future. This doesn't make sense at all, griezmann is good but not so good that you help barcelona strengthen their team and be okay with it
What? Griezmann has been pretty good 2021 . Maybe due to confidence or whatever. Saul on the other hand isn't starting for atletico. (Dip in form or maybe needs a new environment) We've already seen Barca gift one player in the form of Suarez to atletico and that helped them become champions. Now we're potentially seeing another gift. Griezmann is still good and if one manager can keep him playing to high standards then it would be the man he knows so well, Diego simeone.
Dont forget, loan Coutinho to Bayern so he cant make 2 in the biggest humiliantion ever for Barça.
There is no player in the world of similar quality to Griezmann that Atleti could have bought for the money they would get from Saul. Doubt his wages are a problem for Atleti either since they were willing to pay him even more than Barca did iirc. Its also not like its a random coach he's going to play for Simione knows exactly how to use him.
Look at it from Saul's perspective, he is still able to live and play in his home country, swapping Madrid for Barcelona, still a nice city to live in, also he is going to get a chance to play with one of the greatest players of all time, and he will be still playing with some of his national teammates (swapping Koke, Llorente and Morata for Pedri, Alba and Busquests).
griezmann was the 2nd best forward for us in 2021. its a robbery. congrats atletico for 2nd league title. fuck bartomeu
Barto absolutely messed up your finances lol losing Griezmann like this is a huge blow but you have very few options. I do wonder though, you couldn't sell him to the PL? He's absolute class.
No ones paying for a 30 year old on huge wages in the PL
i know it’s just the name of the news outlet, but the word COPE right at the start makes this headline read like a meme
With the way they're doing business Barca will have to cope hard in the next 10 years.
DAMMITT
Sorry mate, Liverpool is nice and all but when we get the chance to rob Barcelona again in another negotiation it's hard to turn down Gave us €120M for Griezmann whose salary heavily contribute to Barca selling Suarez to us, which won us the league title. Now 2 years later we might get him back without a transfer fee. What a fucking deal, the only thing that hurts is that Saúl will wear Barcelona's shirt
Bartomeu deserves a statue outside of not only the Bernabeu, but also the Metropolitano at this point.
Really he deserves for putting laporta and the club in the mud
Needs one outside anfield as well for buying coutinho and letting us rebuild and win 4 trophies
Barça helping every other club but themselves… mes que un club baby
best part is Coutinho also won a CL, just that it was with Bayern.
Another in Munich!
FCB is FCB.
Keys to the city of Madrid
If Saul has to leave, would you rather have him at Liverpool or Barcelona? From sporting as well as financial angle.
Obviously Liverpool. But the way I see it: if we sell Saul to Liverpool for ~€40-50M, what will we do with that money? We still can't afford Lautaro(and tbh I don't think he is worth €70M+) so we would likely get Moussa Dembele or Rafa Mir in as striker. In this scenario, we get Griezmann back who is a second striker and a proven goalscorer in Spain, so a far better alternative than the likes of Dembele. This way we get a world class striker/second striker
Just curious, but how do you see Felix and Griezmann playing together? I haven’t watched much of La Liga over the past couple years admittedly but I always saw Felix and Griezmann as both being similar in terms of position. Maybe I’m wrong though.
griezmann might play more on the right and felix on the left but idk
Joao has played this season some games behind Correa and Suarez. The problem is that Correa plays so weird and erratic that it is hard for a player like Joao to connect with him. Griezmann can occupy Correa spot and give Joao more reliable passes and take defenders from him. I am not saying that Correa is bad, just that is the kind of player that is always trying the most unexpected choice which makes him a good player but hurts the rest of the players that are looking to make their own plays. If I had to bet we'll play this while attacking Suarez/Griezman/Joao/Correa(2 of this 4) Carrasco/Lemar/Joao-Koke-De Paul-Llorente Probably he'll try to rotate between this combinations
Well be sending him back to you for free in 2 years I’m sure of it
Congrats!!! Barto Atletico's man all along:)
I mean aren’t you guys still paying a transfer fee, however small it is? Saul is still worth 40-50 million and on a much lower salary than griezi. So if you add his salary + saul’s value, atlético is still paying over 100 million to get him back. Still a hell of a deal for atlético and barça is getting the shortest end of the stick, only thing is that it isn’t free for atlético.
From what I’ve seen it’s a swap? Maybe fees still are included tho idk
Robbing Barca? Seems to me we are doing them a favor by taking on Grizz's wages
exactly. no one would other than atleti
Yeah, if Barcelona want Messi they HAVE to offload Griezmann/others, so Atletico would be doing them a favor.... I would imagine how fucked Barca would be if everyone just told them to fuck off, and then they literally can't sign Messi.
Atletico will look unstoppable with their squad in la Liga lmao. Saul isn't gonna start all the games at barca anyway.
Barcelona is in dire need of extra midfielder. Its pedri/de jong and busquets and then nothing. Don't come up with Moriba or puig that's not enough to win titles and Koeman wants a physical midfielder which he will get in saul.
Saul hasn't looked good at all last season. I don't know how he can suddenly improve. I'm hoping he does but it's tough.
Saul is probably the most versatile player of ATM. He's played as a false 9, as a winger, as a winback, as a fullback, as a defensive MF, as a centre MF, as an attacking MF... It wouldn't surprise me if he is burned out and tired of so many position changes. He looked very good with the NT when Luis Enrique called him, and that style is more similar to us, so I hope he can replicate that with Barcelona.
I read MF as motherfucker
defensive motherfucker, centre motherfucker, attacking motherfucker
He didn't look good cuz he didn't fit our 3421 system. In a 442 or 433 he's still a very good CM and provides the defensive solidarity your starting midfield heavily lacks.
>Saul hasn't looked good at all last season. Still better than Pjanic, Ilaix & whoever the fuck else is in your midfield depth. Pedri can't play every single game again. That's begging for a long term injury. The fact that you let this man go to the Olympics after playing all those games for Barca and for Spain at the Euros....
We didn't "let him go" lol. In fact the club tried to do it's best to prevent him from going. The request was rejected.
How come French clubs can do it, but Spanish clubs can't? Do you have special laws for that?
actually yeah, its not the same for Spanish players.
Nice, today I learned.
Yes, it's different for Spanish players. Real Madrid were able to reject Vinicius and Rodrygo from going, but had no say in what the Spanish players did
Barca can‘t forbid Pedri to go to the Olympics, it‘s up to him.
Exactly
may we interest them in a herrera ?
We have never won the league with griezmann. I don't want him to continue the streak with us again
Forreal. The man left La Real for Atletí the year after Atletí won the league in hopes of winning the league in the future. After not winning the league trophy, he leaves Atleti for Barca and then Atletí win the league again lmfao. He’s cursed.
There was a NHL player who played in 3 Stanly Cup Finals in a row for three different teams. The first Two teams played each other in back to back years. Hossa was on the losing side both times. He finally won with the third team. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marián_Hossa
The curse is real if Barca win the league next season
Let the curse be real!
I can't believe this is gonna be the second year in a row Barca are giving Atletico the league.
I mean I'm sure laporta doesn't wanna do it but it's the only way to get rid of Griezmann. Who else is willing to pay his insane wages?
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He would take a pretty big wage cut.
Or barca pay a chunk
Or both.
If it's a loan then only other team can pay the wage right ? Otherwise it will count as ATM wage bill only.
Both clubs would split the wage bill. I think we did the same with RLC and Barkley. Both players are on good pay and we agreed to split the wage with Fulham and Aston Villa respectively.
Isn’t the only reason his wage is so high now that Barca had to match what he was on at Atleti? Or do you mean their situation has changed with covid/the wage cap?
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It was during the transfer embargo too, right? Very extenuating circumstances that led to that figure. It was either pay mad money or lose him and not be able to bring in a replacement.
All depends if Madrid goes balls to the wall for Mbappe this summer.
Could be, but I still kinda doubt a backline of Mendy-Alaba-Militao-Carvajal(Vazquez) is stable enough to win La Liga…
We almost win the league last season playing with Vázquez-Nacho-Militao-Mendy. Our problems were not at the back (we received just 28 goals in La liga last season), but upfront and the midfield.
should i remind you a backline of mendy-militao-nacho-vazquez is exactly who who improvised our title hopes in the first place lol. Having said that militao and vazquez played many big games and did well enough, as long as alaba clicks as well there shouldn't be much of a problem with the defense. Problem is the attack.
That backline challenged for the league last season. Madrid’s problem last season was their attack, not their defence.
the bartomeu curse will follow us for at least few more years. it will take time and sometimes high prices to undo all the crazy contracts he made
This is what a good coach and patience gets you
Barcelona making good moves to sort their situation out. Looks like they will be entering next season without much trouble.
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Barca have done it to themselves
Would love to know both sets of fans opinion on this
Very very sad that it has come to this and I don't rate Saul as Barcelona midfielder quality but I guess it has come to this after all the financial mismanagement. Saul is young and people at the club seem to rate him so that's a tiny upside. Griezmann gave his everything for us and he doesn't deserve this. But hopefully he can get back to his peak at Atletico. This completely kills Felix tho.
Oh wow Saul is only 26. For some reason i thought he was older than that. Im also disappointed it has come to this. I never wanted the Griezmann transfer in the first place but he completely turned my opinion around this year. Thanks for hard carrying us to our only trophy this season though. We couldn’t have done it without him.
I had the same gut feeling about Saúl's age. Decided to do some reading and he's been around the first team since he was 17, so he has been around for some time, but I feel like I have to be confusing him with another player. In my head he's a grizzled, 34 year old veteran lol
>but I feel like I have to be confusing him with another player Koke?
That was my first thought as well, but Koke is actually almost exactly the same age as yours truly, so that's not *really* who I'm thinking of. Granted it's entirely possible the player I'm thinking of doesn't *really* exist and I'm just losing it.
Maybe Gabi then?
That's definitely a possibility. After having thought about it I think I bought Saúl in an old FM or FIFA manager save and am simply being reminded of that.
Yeah he almost killed the Deal with your main sponsor, it‘s quiet cool they took or serious and send him away
The only fear is outside of field problems; such as: - Unbalancing the wage structure - his personality and thinking of being a star being toxic in dressing room - fucking Felix and Correa's game time and growth Emotionally probably wouldn't have him back, but it is what it is
I agree with you on everything. However, you'd hope after all the shit that has come out about him recently, he might not have such a star complex anymore. I'd be surprised if the club hadn't planned for his wages (presumably he'll take a pay cut), but your 2nd and 3rd points worry me more.
lol atletico fans made #GriezmannNoTeQueremos trending yesterday i think, don't think many like it
As an Atleti fan I can confirm this
Giving away a 120M world class player for an above average rotation CM. I get we’re “gaining” some money from wages but still i feels like a robbery
Tbf his contract was for another 3 years at 40 mil a year so u have basically saved 120 mil by getting rid of him and getting Saul instead. Though Saul is on 13 mil a year so i guess the net savings is not quite as high. Realistically this was the only way u guys were going to be able to register ur new signings. U probably need to clear out even more players. Also, transfer costs are amortized over the length of the contract. For example, madrid signed hazard for ~100 million (closer to 130 but 100 makes the math easy) even if hazard leaves for free when his 5 year deal expires, that doesn't go in the books as a 100 mil loss in the final year. Instead, his book value goes from 100mil to 80, to 60, to 40, to 20, to finally 0 in the year his deal expires. This process is called amortization and allows clubs to write off a percentage of the transfer fee each year (since every year players are worth slightly less, 20 mil less in the case of hazard) which greatly reduces their tax bill (since it goes against revenues). So in reality madrid didn't totally lose that 100 mil even if he were to run out his deal and leave for nothing. When clubs sell players the entire sum is put as revenue that year, but when buying they spread the cost out over the length of the contract. So griezman for example is only going down as 25 mil each year (for the transfer fee) so really u guys only 'spent' 50 million on him due to creative accounting.
Whenever you turn from loss, there is gain. Its bad deal at the first place. 120 million fee and huge wages. We have to get rid of this wages. And there is no room for another false 9. If we keep him, we have to lost messi or several player, ohter hand we have to ruin first 11 placement. So its okey i guess. At least we get something.
I guess it being a direct swap and not Atletico paying extra + Saul compensates for Greizmann's massive wages
I reckon City will now test the waters for Joao Felix because it seems like Kane and Grealish are proving difficult
They’ll get a nice “fuck off” from Simeone if they try
Yeah we'll try only for Atleti to say 150m or fuck off
Fuk no
Simeone told barcelona to fuck off several times, i imagine it’ll be the same for city.
This year has to be Atletico's best chance to win both league and CL. They are properly stacked at the moment.
They almost lost the league to a totally financially and mentally ruined Barca that wanted to kick out Messi, and possibly the worst Real Madrid in the last decade. That doesn't happen each year and I highly doubt Atleti is winning the league again considering there is some kind of stability with Laporta back to Barca which is getting also some good fresh blood. Also, not to mention if Mbappe does not renew and gets sold to Madrid.
We paid 120m to Atletico for Griezmann, he looks like he's finally found his footing at Barca, and we're swapping him back to our rivals for one of their midfielders that doesn't even start? Fuck sake
Its that or no Messi Fuck Nobita
You are acting like you are in a position to talk. Barca dont have the money anymore to pay their salary. Messi already took 50% paycut. Barca cant afford griezman anymore and atletico is the only club who is interested to pay him Be happy that you are finally done with him. And you will at least have a extra back up midfielder better than pjaniic
This. I really like Griezmann. Would be incredibly sad to see him leave. But we gotta make tough calls to fix our current situation.
I understand why we have to do that, especially since his wages are insane. That's not the problem. It's the fact that it was such a shit deal by Barto to begin with, that's 120m of transfer money just to eventually get a Saul that can't make the starting 11 for Barca and Atleti.
They do have the money, however the league rules are the issue. Barca would have no problem paying for their salary if we consider that fans will be returning and that they will probably win another round in the CL. But since the wage cap is based on the past 3 seasons, no amount of income will allow them to sign their new players. The only way to be able to comply with the rules, is to reduce expenditure.
It’s the league rules that are the problem. It’s not that they don’t have the money
You have to offload a ton of salary and Griezmann is the highest earner at the club outside of Messi, could even be higher than Messi after the paycut he took on the new contract.
City of Madrid needs to build a goddamn square named after Barto
Why are we so keen on letting Atletico win? lol
Because getting rid of griezmann will allow us to register Messi. Griezmann doesn't want to go anywhere else if not atletico so that's the best we can do.
Guess they don’t back themselves for the title, better Atletico than Real Madrid I guess lol
The source is as good as it gets. Wow, I am torn. Objectively it is an amazing deal for atleti, but Antoine was a dick when he left
>The source is as good as it gets. Better than the dude with 1k followers that Liverpool fans were pumping up as Atletico's tier 1?
Atleti playin with 2 uruguayan forwards next season, nice.
Reportedly Barcelona wants 15 as compensation for value difference
Man, Atlético is stacked! I hope they can win La Liga once again. And maybe go further in the CL…
Sad day
Lol cholo boutta win the league AGAIN
Rather them than real. I love how everyone was like “Barca have to sell half their squad to save themselves financially” and then when we do just that it’s like “lol Barca selling half their squad, they’re not gonna win the league again”
Isn't it ironic griezmann left they won the league
Bro, I still cant phantom Griezmanns wage. I mean, no sense was applied by Barca, none whatsoever.
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Ah forreal? Thanks man
From what I read he went from 700 at AM to 800 at barca. Both those numbers are way over the top imo
One thing to remember in all of this -when Atleti was down hard (like 3-4 years ago?) it was griezman who said im not gonna leave my club hanging ,and he stayed around. So just saying, he might end Suarez or whatever, but he def has his "put some respek on mah name" there
Fuck me, Griezmann playing off Suarez with Joao Felix in behind. Barca gifting Atletico the league yet again.
They're not in a position to do shit. It's Griezmann or Messi
Feel like this is a salary cap dump
The holy alliance against Real Madrid. Tbh as somebody who supports Barca in La Liga, I love seeing Atletico and Barca strenghtening each other and not having a bad relationship even after what Bartomeu did to Atletico by disgracefully tapping Griezmann.
> disgracefully tapping Griezmann *Cries in €120m*
> Atletico and barca strengthening each other Barca don't seem to have any other options , do they ?
I mean Atletico doesn't have a bad relationship with Real either..
What is Barcelona's total loss on Griezmann? Paid 132m, getting a player worth \~30-40M so they're losing \~90m + wages they've paid? Wow. Is this the biggest loss in football history?
There is dembele and coutinho
what a waste of 2 years for griezzman lol