Back in 2019, Barcelona paid €15m to Atletico Madrid as an advanced payment for their centre-back Jose Maria Gimenez, RAC1 report. The payment was a part of the Antoine Griezmann deal.
However, the Catalans never went on to sign Gimenez. Atleti set a price tag of €80m, and Barca didn’t pay the remaining part.
It’s been claimed that Josep Maria Bartomeu paid the Rojiblancos the €15m so they wouldn’t take Barca to court.
Back then, Atletico demanded that we pay Griezmann’s full release clause of €200m and not €120m. Barcelona had reached an agreement with Atletico in March when his release clause was still €200m.
Besides, it’s said that Gimenez was Barca’s alternative to Matthijs de Ligt. The club didn’t sign the Dutchman because they didn’t want to pay Mino Raiola’s €20m commission.
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