Barcelona, Atletico Madrid set to finalise €20 million agreement for Griezmann | OneFootball

After a long drawn out saga, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are finally close to reaching an agreement over the transfer of French forward Antoine Griezmann, reports MARCA.

Griezmann returned to Atletico last year after two subpar seasons at Barcelona. The 31-year-old had joined on a one-year loan deal with an option to extend it by another year. A mandatory permanent purchase clause of €40 million was also inserted.

However, Atletico have been unwilling to pay that amount and have been trying to exploit a clause in the agreement that would free them of the obligation by playing Griezmann for 30 minutes or less.

Barcelona initially considered a lawsuit against their La Liga rivals but in recent weeks have decided against it as they would rather close the books on Griezmann rather than face the prospect of having him back at the club next season.

Negotiations have been going on for a while between the two clubs and as per the latest reports, an agreement is now imminent.

According to the updates, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will shake hands on a deal worth €20 million, with the €40 million obligatory clause no longer in place. It would mean that Diego Simeone will be free to use Griezmann regularly, rather than restrict his game-time.

Other media outlets are indicating that there will be a €2 million bonus payment also involved in the deal, while Griezmann will also be agreeing another pay cut to extend his stay at the Civitas Metropolitano.

The Frenchman had already agreed to reduce his salary by 50% to secure a return to Atletico last year and had accepted another reduction earlier this summer in order to help the club with their player registration problems. And, the 31-year-old will now be subjected to another wage cut.

However, the French international was always keen on continuing at Atletico Madrid while the club wanted to keep him as well. And with Barcelona also being intent to offload him, all parties seem to be getting their desired outcome from the deal.