Barcelona discussing Griezmann/Felix swap deal with Atletico

Jason Soutar
Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix

FC Barcelona are looking to offload Antoine Griezmann in a swap deal with Atletico Madrid for Joao Felix.

The Catalan club reportedly made a loan offer for the 21-year-old on Monday that was knocked back by Atletico.

But Barca will come back in for Felix on deadline day, hoping to include Griezmann in the deal.


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According to ESPN, Felix’s agent, Jorge Mendes, is working on the transfer. They also claim a deal is not “impossible”.

The window shuts on Tuesday evening, so time is running out for both parties.

Both clubs have already negotiated a deal involving Griezmann this summer, this time for midfielder Saul Niguez.

This transfer failed to materialise due to a disagreement between Atletico and Barca over their valuation of the two players.

The Blaugrana are in a difficult financial position so are keen to get rid of Griezmann due to his astronomical wages.

They were unable to hand Lionel Messi a new deal because “financial and structural obstacles” prevented them from doing so.

Messi has since joined Paris Saint-Germain, signing a two-year deal with the Ligue 1 club.

After being unable to register new signings for the LaLiga season due to the league’s strict salary limits, defender Gerard Pique took a ‘substantial’ pay cut which allowed new signings such as Memphis Depay to be registered.

“FC Barcelona is able to register Memphis, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj to play in the Spanish Liga de Futbol Profesional,” the club said in a statement.

“This has been made possible thanks to an agreement with Gerard Pique whereby the Barça second captain’s salary has been substantially reduced.”

Elsewhere, Barca are raising funds by selling right-back Emerson Royal to Tottenham.

The player successfully completed his medical on Tuesday morning and is moving to north London in a €30million deal, including add ons.

Emerson joined Barcelona in January 2019 before moving to Real Betis a month later. However, the Catalan club took up the option to bring him back to the Nou Camp this summer for a reported £7.7m.

“Medical successfully completed for Emerson Royal as new Tottenham player. Paperworks to be signed in the next minutes, final details & announcement pending. €30m add ons included to Barcelona,” Fabrizio Romano said on Twitter.