Atletico Madrid argued Friday that the 120 million euros ($135 million) Barcelona paid for France forward Antoine Griezmann was "insufficient" and that he had "unilaterally" broken his contract.

"Atletico Madrid considers that the amount paid is insufficient to meet the release clause as it is obvious that the agreement between the player and Barcelona had been concluded before the release clause dropped from 200 million euros to 120 million euros," the club said in a statement.

The amount attached to the release clause changed on July 1.