Diego Simeone to toe club line on Antoine Griezmann contract debate

Atletico Madrid enjoyed a far quieter deadline day than many of their La Liga counterparts on Thursday, with only Marcos Paulo leaving on loan.

The big story for Los Colchoneros continues to be the Antoine Griezmann case. The French forward has a clause in his contract that means Atleti must pay Barcelona €40m for Griezmann if he plays 50% of the minutes he is available for over the two years of his loan deal.

Speaking to Marca ahead of Atletico’s fixture with Real Sociedad on Saturday, Simeone seemed to imply that he would be following the club’s stance on the matter.

“You have known me for 10 years now, I am a man of the club and I always will be.”

“It’s better to play 30 good minutes than 60 bad minutes,” Simeone added.

Simeone y los minutos de Griezmann.

🗨️ “Me conocen desde hace 10 años: yo soy hombre de club y lo seré siempre”.

🗨️ “Tenemos una plantilla equilibrada, con buenos recambios. Lo más importante es que podemos lograr competir”.

🗨️ “Es mejor jugar 30 minutos bien que 60 mal”. pic.twitter.com/p6qZ1KhX1m

— Relevo (@relevo) September 2, 2022

Griezmann has so far appeared in each La Liga match from the bench, but for less than 30 minutes each time. The suggestion is that Atletico Madrid will continue to bench Griezmann in order to avoid paying that clause.

It may well just be a method of putting pressure on Barcelona to renegotiate that clause. Overall it is the player who is harmed most by this stand-off between the two clubs.