Barcelona wanted Atletico duo in summer window

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Bengaluru, September 20: Spanish giants Barcelona wanted to sign Atletico Madrid duo Saul Niguez and Antoine Griezmann in the summer, but were put off by their price tags as per reports from the Spanish media.

Niguez’s release clause of €80million was something Barca were prepared to pay, but they baulked at spending €150million when the figure increased after the midfielder signed a new contract.

It was a similar situation with Griezmann as Barca were only prepared to offer €140million for the French attacker, whose release clause rose to €200million.

The Catalan giants had a complicated summer with the loss of Neymar and the contract status of Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta and were looking at ways to strengthen their squad and that is why they tried to sign two of the best La Liga players in order to reinforce the side.

It is reported that Lionel Messi is a big admirer of the duo, especially Griezmann, and wanted the two players from Atletico but Barcelona failed to match the demands of Simeone’s side.

On top of that, the transfer ban imposed on the Spanish capital club doubled the issue as they would not have been able to bring in replacements of the duo.

The whole transfer window was mostly frustrating for Barcelona as they failed to bring their primary targets like Philippe Coutinho and Marco Verratti.

High-profile new signing, Ousmane Dembele, who joined for a staggering fee, has gone down with a long-term injury. So, things are not going well at all for the Blaugrana right now.

However, the Catalan giants are in fine form and won 6-1 against Eibar on Tuesday (September 19) night in La Liga with Messi scoring four goals and new signing Paulinho and youngster Denis Suarez scoring one each. Luis Suarez’s dip of form will be concerning for the Spanish side, though.