Yesterday we learned that Barcelona paid 15 Million Euros to Atletico Madrid for First option on Saul and Gimenez. Moreover, various media outlets said that this amount of money is also a compensation for the Griezmann transfer. However, Barcelona denied that this is the case. More on that by Sujoy Pritam.
According to ever reliable @moillorens and @RodrigoFaez , Barcelona have paid Atletico Madrid €15m to have the first refusal on Niguez, Gimenez and three other academy players, with sources from both clubs denying the payment has anything to do with the Griezmann deal.
A high-ranking source at Barcelona “strongly denies” that the payment has anything to do with Griezmann but confirmed that the club had acquired an option to skip to the front of the queue to sign Saul, Gimenez and several other Atletico players. Furthermore, the source added that Barca regularly do these types of deals.
An Atletico source also confirmed the club reached an agreement whereby Barca have first refusal over some of their players. The source would not name the players included in the deal or the figure which Barca paid.
@espnfc also reports that the deal arrived in September. Whenever Atletico receive an offer for the players included in the agreement, they must let Barca know immediately. The Spanish champions will then have the right to match the proposal.
How do you feel about this deal? Are they possible future transfers or another shady deal by our board? Write your opinion in the Comment section below.