FC Barcelona are reportedly planning to file a lawsuit against rivals Atletico Madrid regarding forward Antoine Griezmann's situation between the two club.
At the beginning of the previous campaign, Barca's Griezmann joined Atletico on a two-season loan deal.
Scroll through the gallery above to see every Barca player who is out on loan, per Transfermarkt
The contract reportedly included a €40 million (R701 million) obligation to buy should the 31-year-old play at least 45 minutes in 50% of the matches he is available for across his two-year deal.
According to Barca Universal, Diego Simeone's side met these conditions in the 2021/22 campaign, but this season the Madrid club has been carefully regulating the Frenchman's game time in order to avoid paying the mandatory fee.
Per RAC1, however, the Blaugrana are now arguing that the conditions were only applicable for the first year of the deal, a season in which the striker featured for at least 45 minutes in 30 out of 37 matches.
The Catalan outfit believes the second year of the loan deal had nothing to do with the mandatory buy clause as the 2022/23 season was just an extension that was agreed upon.
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While the Madrid side has only been bringing Griezmann on after the 60th minute of matches in this campaign as they are under the impression they are not committing any legal violations, the Camp Nou team is adamant that they are in the right and are demanding the compulsory fee.
Barcelona are thus reportedly prepared to escalate the matter to court as they look to avoid the player's return to the club, in which case they would once again have to pay his annual salary of €20 million (R350 million) per season.