Barcelona are in a financial crisis and in order to re-sign Lionel Messi they need to offload a number of players.
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Barcelona are considering a swap deal with Antoine Griezmann and Juventus’ Paulo Dybala as they are battling to cut down their wage bill, reports claim. The Catalan club is in a financial crisis. They are desperately trying hard to re-sign their talismann Lionel Messi whose contract expired at the end of last month. For that they want to offload a number of players in order to reduce the financial burden. Therefore the Spanish giants are keen on offloading Griezmann who earns GBP300,000 per week, according to L’Equipe.
The Frenchman joined Barcelona in 2019 from Atletico Madrid. But since then he has struggled to establish himself as a mainstay in the playing eleven. However the previous season was a fairly decent one for Griezmann as he netted 13 times in the La Liga. But the striker’s wages are too high for Barcelona to afford at this point of time.
The 30-year-old is back in training with Blaugrana after featuring in the Euro 2020 for Les Bleus. The defending world champions were eliminated by Switzerland in the round of 16 stage. Meanwhile it is understood that his employer has reached out to Juventus.
Barcelona have asked for a player to swap Griezmann for. The main individual in question is Dybala, who has just 12 months remaining in his contract.
The Argentine playmaker had a mixed season in Serie A as the Old Lady surrendered the Scudetto to Inter Milan and he scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists.
Griezmann is also linked with a move back to Atletico Madrid in a swap deal involving midfielder Saul Niguez. L’Equipe says that Griezmann is tempted to head back to Madrid and recapture his glory days under head coach Diego Simeone. Meanwhile it is also learnt that the La Liga champions are also keen to bring him back to Metropolitano.
Atletico president Enrique Cerezo refused to rule out a deal for Griezmann this summer, insisting ‘everything is possible’.
“I have no idea, they haven’t told me anything, I don’t know anything. I do not know how the negotiations are, not even if there are. But there is little left for you to know what will happen.
“In the world of football everything is possible but in the case of Griezmann I have no idea. Nor have I asked.”
