Journalist Roger Torello, while writing for Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, has said that Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are ready to establish a middle ground to discuss the permanent transfer of Antoine Griezmann.

The Frenchman, who joined Atletico Madrid on a two-year loan deal in 2021, understands that the current situation – lack of playing minutes – isn’t ideal not only for him but even for the capital club.
At the moment, Atletico are bound to pay Barcelona a sum of €40 million by the end of this loan tenure. However, the mentioned terms will only come into effect if the forward plays at least 45 minutes in more than 50% of the games he is available for. To counter that, Atletico found a major loophole as they are only bringing him on post the 60-minute mark. This means he has clocked a total of just 226 minutes in La Liga and 57 minutes in the UEFA Champions League in eight games across the two competitions.
Barcelona initially wanted to take legal action but as it turns out, Atletico are not doing anything out of order. Hence, the only option the Catalan club now has is to accept a fee lower than the previously agreed €40 million, as Atleti are unwilling to meet that valuation. For that, the aforementioned outlet claims while there have been no direct contacts between the two teams, Barcelona would be willing to accept a minimum of €25 million for the Frenchman.
Furthermore, in order to pull themselves as well as Atletico out of the situation, Barcelona are looking to resolve the issue before the two sides meet for the first time in La Liga, a game scheduled for the weekend of January 7 and 8 at the Civitias Metropolitano. As far as Griezmann is concerned, it’s understood that while he does want to help Atletico more, he has little to no say in the management’s decision. All this is, in fact, hurting the Madrid side as Diego Simeone, himself, wants his French striker under normal conditions.