Barça reportedly halt negotiations for Griezmann-Saúl swap deal
A report in Catalan newspaper 'Ara' claims that Barcelona were not happy with the terms of the transfer
A potential swap deal involving Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann and Atlético de Madrid's Saúl Ñíguez was discussed last week. The french forward has one of the highest wages in the Barça squad and the club are actively looking to move the player on. However, they are not willing to do so at any price. While both players and clubs are happy for a deal to go through, the Catalan club are reportedly wanting more from Atléti.
Griezmann was happy to return to his former club, while Saúl - a former Barça transfer target - was also interested in making the move to Camp Nou.
According to the report in 'Ara', while a deal was deemed viable last week, it now looks to have fell through for various reasons.
One of the reasons was the difference in market value and recent performance between the players, with Griezmann being a starter for the French national team and having just completed a good domestic season, whereas Saúl is not in the best form of his career.
Atlético do not want to include any money in the deal, which makes the deal an unattractive one for Barça. They still need to pay off 72 million for the French striker's transfer, so a straight swap deal would not be beneficial.
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