"Barcelona" wants to introduce Antoine Griezmann to their fans as soon as possible and is seeking help from banks. Catalans hoped to finish negotiations with Madrid's "Atletico" much faster, but the Spanish club started showing horns when they found out that "Barca" had been negotiating with Griezmann without their knowledge since the middle of last season. Since July, Griezmann's release clause of 120 million euros in his contract with "Atletico" has been in effect. "Barca" hoped that they would be able to agree with "Los Rojiblancos" on a partially distributed amount, but now the Madrid team wants to receive the full release clause amount. In this case, "Barcelona" must pay the full amount of 120 million euros to the "La Liga" account, which regulates player transfers. "Barcelona", not having or not being able to pay such a sum, began to turn to banks to cover Griezmann's transfer fee to the "La Liga" office. Catalans also hoped that Nelson Semedo could be included in Griezmann's deal. "Atletico" was open to these negotiations, but Ernesto Valverde did not allow it, as he still sees the defender as an important part of the team. "Barcelona" hopes that they will be able to cover the release clause amount by Friday and present Griezmann at the "Camp Nou" stadium on Saturday.
