Antoine Griezmann joins Barcelona: More questions than answers
The worst-kept secret in Spanish football was confirmed on Friday when Barcelona paid Atletico Madrid 120m euros (£107.7m) to sign French World Cup-winning forward Antoine Griezmann.
But the conclusion of Barca’s long pursuit of a player they also nearly bought last summer is by no means the end of the story.
It remains to be seen whether Atletico will follow through with their threat of legal action, which could just be a bargaining tactic to extract a few more million out of Barca.
But that is only the first of many loose ends from a deal that provides more questions than answers.
Where will Griezmann fit in?
On the face of it, Griezmann should find a natural home in Barcelona’s front three alongside established superstars Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
The new signing’s versatility allows him to play anywhere across the forward line, meaning coach Ernesto Valverde can field him alongside Suarez with Messi tucked in behind.
Everything Barca do this season will be played out against the backdrop of dramatic Champions League collapses at Liverpool and Roma in the past two seasons, and Griezmann’s flexibility, proven goalscoring skills and ability to link play should certainly aid the Catalan club’s quest for European glory.
During his five seasons with Atletico under the rigid discipline of Diego Simeone, Griezmann developed an outstanding ability to contribute in defence, regularly dropping deep to support the back line before carrying the ball forward to spark counter-attacks.
With Suarez and especially Messi offering relatively little going backwards, Barca badly a needed someone who can operate at both ends of the field to stop them from being overwhelmed in the manner of that infamous loss at Anfield.