Atletico ‘refuse to negotiate with Barcelona’ over £108m Griezmann transfer as they open disciplinary proceedings against AWOL striker
ATLETICO MADRID are to continue their tough stance on Antoine Griezmann by refusing to negotiate with Barcelona while punishing him for missing training.
The French forward failed to show up for the start of pre-season amid the La Liga champions' £108million approach.
It has been no secret that Barcelona want to snag the World Cup winner but his release clause only recently dropped to a fee they were willing to contemplate.
However, as Atleti revealed in a furious statement last week, the Catalans attempted to delay paying the up-front fee.
That was despite opening talks with Griezmann months ago and gaining an agreement with the player, according to the Madrid club.
Now, with Griezmann effectively on strike, MARCA report that Atletico are still refusing to consider anything other than the full £108m, paid straight away.
Any chance of accepting a delayed payment by player power is being resisted, the striker's absence instead being treated as a disciplinary matter.
Griezmann is now subject to proceedings by his current club, who are reportedly still paying his £335,000-a-week wages during the dispute, and could be fined.
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Barcelona claim they only began negotiations with the 28-year-old when his release clause dropped from £180m on July 4.
Weeks before that, he had already publicly stated that he was leaving Atletico this summer.
And Los Rojiblancos quickly signed a replacement for Griezmann, paying a club record £113m for Portuguese star Joao Felix.