Barcelona Hope to Include Antoine Griezmann in Neymar Deal After Underwhelming Debut Year
By Tom Gott
Barcelona are understood to be eager to swap Antoine Griezmann for Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar this summer, having been underwhelmed by the Frenchman during his first season at Camp Nou.
Their pursuit of Griezmann was probably the single most unnecessarily dramatic event in world history, eventually sealing a £105m move last summer after months of chaos. However, the forward has rewarded Barcelona with just 14 goals and four assists in 37 appearances.
Griezmann's future at the club has been uncertain for a while after Barcelona's interest in both Neymar and Inter's Lautaro Martínez emerged. According to Sky Sports News, Barcelona are eager to offload the Frenchman to make space for their new signings, and a swap deal for Neymar would be the dream.
They value Griezmann at £88m, but they fear that no team would actually be prepared to pay that because of the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, so they see a swap deal as their best option.
Neymar is said to be priced at £135m, so Barcelona would still need to offer some money on top to get this deal over the line – but know that finding that spare £47m is a lot easier than shelling out the full £135m.
If PSG don't want Griezmann, Barcelona are prepared to look for a potential buyer elsewhere. Manchester United have been incredibly poorly linked with the Frenchman, but it looks like PSG would be his best bet.
Griezmann is said to believe that he still has a future at Camp Nou and is expected to take part in promoting next season's new kit – with the club's economic issues providing a small ray of light for him personally; this week's 70% player pay cut means that the dressing room will look unfavourably on any subsequent splashes in the transfer market.
Defenders Samuel Umtiti and Junior Firpo have both been linked with exits to try and raise money as well, while midfielders Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitić have been close to the exit door since the dawn of time itself.