Antoine Griezmann re-joins Atlético Madrid in shock deadline day transfer

French striker's move the highlight from Europe’s top leagues on transfer deadline day

Antoine Griezmann has re-joined Atlético Madrid in a shock move from Barcelona on a season's loan with an obligation for the transfer to become permanent for €40m (£34.4m).

The France international left Atlético for Barcelona in a €120m deal in 2019 but has failed to live up to expectations. He has scored 22 goals in 74 La Liga games for the Catalan club.

A swap involving João Felix had been mooted but Barcelona instead signed Luuk de Jong from Sevilla. Griezmann spent five successful seasons at Atlético after joining from Real Sociedad, his goals return markedly better than at the Camp Nou, scoring 94 times in 180 league games. Atlético were on Tuesday night close to loaning the midfielder Saúl Ñíguez to Chelsea.

On a busy deadline day for Barcelona, they completed the sale of the right-back Emerson Royal to Tottenham on a five-year deal for €25m. The 22-year-old has spent the past two seasons with Real Betis and played for Brazil in the Copa América this summer.

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Barcelona also sold the midfielder Ilaix Moriba to RB Leipzig for an initial €16m, with up to €6m to follow. Moriba, an 18-year-old graduate of Barcelona’s academy, broke into the first team towards the end of last season but talks to extend his contract, which expires in June, stalled.

Barcelona's Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have agreed to salary reductions to get the new signing Sergio Agüero registered amid financial fair play regulations. The defender Gerard Piqué previously took a similar step that allowed Memphis Depay, Eric García and Rey Manaj to register with La Liga. Manaj has joined Spezia on loan.

“Sergio and Jordi Alba have agreed to changes in the financial terms of their contracts which included a wage reduction for this season and the deferment of payments for the remaining years,” Barcelona said. - Guardian

Transfer deadline day deals

- French forward Antoine Griezmann has returned to Atletico Madrid on loan from Barcelona.

- Paris St Germain have signed Portugal full-back Nuno Mendes on a season loan from Sporting with an option to make the move permanent.

- Chelsea have brought in Spain midfielder Saul Niguez on a one-year loan from Atletico Madrid with an option to make it a permanent deal.

- Venezuela striker Salomon Rondon has been reunited with his old manager Rafa Benitez by signing a two-year deal at Everton.

Former Newcastle United player Rondon has joined from Chinese club Dalian Professional on a free transfer.

- Arsenal have signed Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu from Serie A club Bologna to replace Spanish right-back Hector Bellerin who has moved to Real Betis on a season-long loan.

- Premier League club Crystal Palace have signed striker Odsonne Edouard from Celtic on a four-year deal.

The 23-year-old forward, a France Under-21 international, scored 86 goals in 179 appearances for the Glasgow club.

- West Ham have signed Czech Republic international holding midfielder Alex Kral on a one-year loan from Spartak Moscow.

The deal is with a view to making the move permanent and Kral teams up with compatriots Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal at the London Stadium.

- Welsh defender Ethan Ampadu has penned a new three-year deal at Chelsea before moving to Italian side Venezia on loan for the rest of the season.

- Tottenham Hotspur have signed right back Emerson Royal from Barcelona on a five-year deal.

- Liverpool's Rhys Williams has signed a new five-year contract at the club and joined Swansea City on loan for the rest of the season.

- Leicester City have signed RB Leipzig winger Ademola Lookman on a season-long loan with an option to buy. The 23-year-old spent last season on loan at Fulham.

- Leicester City and Serie A side Torino have agreed on a season-long loan for Belgian midfielder Dennis Praet.

- Real Madrid have completed the signing of 18-year-old France midfielder Eduardo Camavinga on a six-year contract from Ligue 1 club Rennes for a reported fee of €30 million.

- Barcelona have accepted a fee for midfielder Ilaix Moriba, who has signed a five-year contract at Leipzig.

- Arsenal midfielder Reiss Nelson has joined Dutch Eredivisie side Feyenoord on loan until the end of the season.

- Leeds United have brought in Wales winger Daniel James on a five-year contract from Manchester United for a reported fee of £25 million.

- Newcastle United have snapped up 19-year-old forward Santiago Munoz from Mexican side Santos Laguna. The Mexico Under-23 international will join on an 18-month loan with an option to make the deal permanent.

- Burnley have completed the signing of centre back Connor Roberts on a four-year deal from Swansea City reportedly worth £2.5 million.

- Borussia Dortmund have strengthened their defence by signing Croatian centre back Marin Pongracic on a season-long loan from fellow Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.

- Brighton & Hove Albion have signed left back Marc Cucurella on a five-year contract from La Liga side Getafe after reportedly matching the £15-million-pound release clause in his contract.

- West Ham United have signed Croatia international Nikola Vlasic from CSKA Moscow in a deal reported to be worth an initial €30 million.

- Juventus have signed Moise Kean on a two-year loan worth €7 million from Everton. The striker, who has nine caps for Italy, returns to the club where he made his professional debut.