Barcelona 'in talks with Juventus for Antoine Griezmann swap deal' after Atletico collapse
Posted Wednesday, July 21, 2021 by Express.co.uk
Barcelona are trying to shift striker Griezmann in a bid to take the expensive Frenchman off of the wage bill
Barcelona are reportedly eyeing up a swap deal with would see Antoine Griezmann leave the club to ply his trade for Juventus, while Paulo Dybala would up sticks to Catalonia.
The La Liga giants are in the middle of tackling a well-documented financial crisis.
The Catalan outfit cannot yet register a number of their summer signings, including former Manchester City star Sergio Aguero, due to the fact they are significantly over La Liga wage restrictions.
As a result, they are forced to sell a number of their players before they can officially confirm the new recruits as part of their playing staff for next season.
One name that is reportedly edging close to the Camp Nou door is 2019 marquee summer signing Griezmann.
The World Cup winner has struggled to recreate the kind of form that led to Barca parting ways with £107m to trigger his Atletico Madrid buy-out clause.
Barcelona are thought to be desperate to shift Antoine Griezmann off of the wage bill (Image: Getty)
The Frenchman is second highest-earner in the Barca squad behind captain and global superstar Lionel Messi.
In two seasons, Griezmann has bagged 35 goals and 17 assists, by no means a dismal output but hardly the kind of form that justifies his hefty price tag.
The forward was recently touted with a return to former side Atletico, with current Atleti star Saul heading in the other direction, but talks quickly collapsed.
However, those at the top of the Barca hierarchy have pitched another alternative in the form of a swap deal with Italian giants Juventus.
Griezmann has struggled in his two seasons at Barca (Image: Getty)
Talks over a swap deal between Griezmann and Dybala are reportedly at an early stage, with the idea of any cash exchanging hands still unknown.
Dybala’s recent goalscoring form has hardly been much better than Griezmann’s, with the Argentine notching five goals and three assists in 26 games last season.
It is important to note that last-term was littered with injuries for Dybala, who struggled to shake off ligament damage sustained to his left-knee.
That rendered Dybala bound for the side-lines for three months of a poor season for Juve, in which they just scrapped Champions League qualification via a fourth-placed finish secured on the last day of the season.
Paulo Dybala could soon be Barca-bound (Image: Getty)
The Turin-based outfit finished 13 points behind champions Inter Milan, who ended nine successive years of Juve dominance.
Club legend Andrea Pirlo was sacked from his role as manager after their worst league showing for more than a decade.
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