Barcelona made audacious offer in initial swap deal proposal for Griezmann

With Barcelona now looking to move on Antoine Griezmann as they hope to free up the funds needed to re-sign Lionel Messi, Marca report that the Blaugrana made an audacious swap bid to Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish publication have found that Barcelona sought out a player exchange deal with Atletico Madrid, given the fact that Los Rojiblancos still love Griezmann for his prolific time at the club.

Marca report that Barcelona’s very first suggestion was to swap Griezmann, who they recruited for €120m per BBC Sport, for Joao Felix, the wonderkid that Atletico signed for €126m in the same summer.

It’s not surprising to learn that Diego Simeone’s side immediately rejected that proposal from Barcelona, with the La Liga champions still confident that Felix is the future of the club.

Barcelona have now turned to the track of Saul Niguez, but a swap swoop involving the midfielder would also be difficult given how hard it would be for Atletico to accomodate Griezmann’s wages.

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Griezmann has largely failed to live up to expectations since arriving at the Camp Nou, but the Frenchman has fared much better than the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele.

The centre-forward still seems to be of interest to major clubs, something that cannot be said for Coutinho and Dembele at this moment, leaving Barcelona with little choice but to part with Griezmann.