Antoine Griezmann's contract at FC Barcelona became a consequential concern for its structure. The club looked at their options to restore some balance to their already distorted financial situation. The Frenchman's deal increased exponentially every annum.
The astronomical rise of the deal did not give Blaugrana many alternatives but to get him off their seasonal wages. Loaning the Frenchman to the La Liga champions came as a shock when, in reality, it shouldn't have. But the added drama of the timing of the deadline day made the deal seem much more dramatic than it was.
The added history between Griezmann and Atlético Madrid made it into the return of the prodigal son. So far, there have been several speculations as to what the actual terms and conditions of the World Cup winner's contract at Barcelona were. Finally, we have a closure made available days after his loan move to Atlético took place.
Antoine Griezmann's Barcelona contract
Details of the French playmaker's contract were shed into illumination by SPORT to reveal its actual intricacies. So, the contract is in segments that branch into different sections. Broadly the 30-year-old earned a fixed of €17 million in his first season at Camp Nou. He left Barcelona with his annual wages being €21 million.
Fixed wages would have increased by approximately a million each year if he had played for the Barcelonistes until the 23/24 season. On playing 60% of the seasonal minutes, Griezmann would earn an additional bonus of €2.5 million every year. There were variables linked to his contracts, promised at processing stages in each competition.
Silverware such as the Champions League remained the magnum opus, but other trophies accounted for some of the add-ons. €4 million was guaranteed to win a triplet. Griezmann did not manage to win much silverware for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he did scrape some percentages of those bonuses by progressing in rounds of tournaments.
The forward bagged an astonishing amount of €25.5 million just in his first season at Barça. In his second, that figure became €21 million. With all the added clauses and subclasses, Griezmann could have earned around €177.5 million in five seasons playing for the Culers.
Upon further assessment, along the lines of having a signing and loyalty bonus, Griezmann's salary was the second-highest in the Barcelona squad. It was only behind Lionel Messi. So lowering his wages with so many other clauses still active, Barcelona had to make a decision. The decision was quite simple - to loan him out to reduce the acceptable wage limit set by La Liga for Financial Fair Play.