Antoine Griezmann came on just after the hour mark for Atletico Madrid in their 1-1 draw away to Real Sociedad in LaLiga on Saturday.
It was the Rojiblancos fourth fixture in 2022/23 and in each of those, the France forward has been sent on by coach Diego Simeone around the same time.
Against Getafe on the opening weekend, Griezmann was introduced after 62 minutes. He was brought on after 62 minutes again versus Villarreal, in the 64th away to Valencia and then in the 63rd in San Sebastian on Saturday.
Coincidence? It seems unlikely. Griezmann is in his second season back at Atletico on loan from Barcelona and FourFourTwo understands that the Rojiblancos will be obliged to pay a €40 million transfer fee to the Catalan club if the player completes more than 45 minutes in half of the games for which he is available.
Simone was asked about Griezmann in the pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to the Reale Arena at the weekend.
"We have to make them understand that playing well for 30 minutes is more important than playing badly for 60," he said in a somewhat ambiguous reply.
"It's clear that they all want to play more, but the coaches look for situations which favour the team."
One of those situations appears to be the need to avoid paying €40m for Griezmann, which SImeone all but confirmed in the same press conference.
"You have known me for more than 10 years," he told a reporter when pressed on the Frenchman's situation.
"I'm a club man and I always will be."
Last season, Griezmann played for more than 45 minutes in 30 of his 37 matches (81%).
In order for that percentage to drop below 50%, he can only play for 45 minutes or more in around 13 matches this season (or slightly more if Atletico go deep in the Copa del Rey and the Champions League).
Griezmann's place in the France team is understood not to be under threat ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, but his camp have made it known that he is unhappy with the situation – and that he is at Atletico to be an important player, not to make up the numbers.
Atletico do see Griezmann as a key player and his reduced role this season is believed to be a strategy by the Madrid club to negotiate a smaller fee with Barcelona.
Until that happens, though, his current status as a late substitute is set to continue.
