Barcelona are in a deep financial pit today, and things have taken a turn for the worse for them. The Blaugrana completed signed Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Emerson Royal, Memphis Depay and are said to be extremely close to finalising the extension of Lionel Messi.
However, their wage bill is one of the heaviest in European football, and the La Liga giants have exceeded the salary cap put in place by La Liga by a massive margin of £170 million.
As it stands, Antoine Griezmann is the highest earner at Barcelona, and the former the Catalans have no choice but to part ways with the Frenchman, if they are to register Messi and their new signings for the next season.
A few weeks back, the Frenchman was considered to be among the untouchables in the squad and was not up for sale. The equation certainly seems to have changed now.
Barcelona hope to offload Griezmann this summer in a bid to lighten their wage bill and put the money earned from his sale to put to use but Mundo Deportivo understands that the Blaugrana is looking for a swap deal with Griezmann’s former club.
The deal would see Griezmann make a sensational return to Atletico Madrid while Saul Niguez would come the way of Barcelona.
Ronald Koeman is said to be a fan of the Spaniard. The former Netherlands boss believes that Niguez has the all-around capabilities to succeed at Barcelona.
The Spanish outlet further explains that Diego Simeone is ‘seduced’ by the prospect of managing Griezmann again. The 30-year-old arguably played his best football under Simeone before he moved to Barcelona.
Griezmann certainly had a fruitful 2021 with the Blaugrana, but that does not hide the fact that his past years at Camp Nou have been underwhelming.
Niguez is valued at €50 million by the newly-crowned La Liga champions and with Liverpool also said to be in the race to sign the midfielder, things could get a little dicey for the cash-strapped Barcelona.
Liverpool’s initial offer worth €40 million was shot down by Atletico Madrid but it remains to be seen if The Reds want to make another attempt for the midfielder.
