Antoine Griezmann, 30, who scored 133 goals in his first spell with Atletico, has reunited on a one-year loan deal with the option of extending another year.
Antoine Griezmann had started all three games for Barcelona in the new LaLiga season. AP
Madrid:
France forward Antoine Griezmann has made a surprise deadline return at Atletico Madrid, two years after joining Barcelona, the clubs announced on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old, who scored 133 goals in his first spell with Atletico, has reneged on a one-year loan deal, with the option of extending another year, Atletico said.
"Welcome back, Griezmann!" The club wrote on its website.
Barcelona are struggling financially and six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi had to be allowed to leave for Paris Saint-Germain last month.
Griezmann was one of his highest earners since signing for 120 million euros in 2019.
The Catalan club confirmed his departure, saying Atletico "will pay the player's salary", confirming that the deal includes a mandatory permanent transfer clause when his loan expires.
Neither club disclosed the obligation-to-purchase fee, but it was reportedly set at 40 million euros ($47.2 million).
"FC Barcelona would like to thank Antoine Griezmann for his commitment and dedication and wish him the very best for the future," the statement said.
Griezmann joins Luis Suarez, who left Barca 12 months ago for Atletico, the current LaLiga champions.
Ronald Koeman's Barcelona signed Sevilla striker Luc de Jong as Griezmann's replacement.
Spain's LaLiga confirmed on Twitter that both transfers were "submitted on time" and no detail was given.
De Jong has scored just 10 league goals in two seasons in Spain.
Griezmann's only major trophy with Atletico was the 2018 Europa League, having signed for Real Sociedad's Diego Simeone's men shortly after winning the 2014 league title.
He won the Copa del Rey with Barca, scoring the first goal in the final against Athletic Bilbao.
But Griezmann's stay at Camp Nou was overwhelming, with the 2018 World Cup winner netting just 22 times in 74 league matches for the Catalan giants.
Barcelona clear out
Griezmann's exit was not expected, however, when he started the first three games of Barcelona's new season.
The move is the latest big name transfer of the summer, following Messi's switch and Cristiano Ronaldo's return from Juventus to Manchester United.
But Kylian Mbappe's widely expected dream from PSG to Real Madrid failed to materialize on Tuesday.
Griezmann, who finalized his transfer on international duty in preparation for France's upcoming World Cup qualifiers, was part of a clear out by Barca on the day of the deadline.
He allowed defender Emerson Royal to move to Tottenham, and teenage midfielder Ilex Moriba joined RB Leipzig.
Earlier this month, Barca president Joan Laporta revealed that Barcelona's debt stands at 1.35 billion euros ($1.58 billion) and that their salary bill is at least 25 percent higher than that of their rivals at 617 million euros.
The five-time European champions have not won the Champions League since 2015, when they were driven by the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez, and failed to advance past the quarter-finals in either of Griezmann's two campaigns.
Barca were beaten 8-2 in the last eight by Bayern Munich in 2020 before losing 4-1 at home to PSG earlier this year as they went 5-2 on aggregate in the last-16.
They finished second in LaLiga, five points behind champions Real Madrid in Griezmann's first season, before finishing third for the final time.
Griezmann has scored 38 goals in 95 appearances for France, including once at Euro 2020, as the world champions were knocked out in the last 16 by Switzerland.
