Football news - Antoine Griezmann wants Barca move in summer - report

The Atletico Madrid striker turned down the Catalans last year but has now changed his mind and would like to join La Liga leaders.

The report in the Spanish paper claims the entourage of the France forward has already been in contact with Ernetso Valverde’s side.

And it seems his desire was not a direct reaction to the Champions League loss to Juventus, but was made several weeks ago.

Although Barcelona have been linked with other signings this summer, not least Luka Jovic (Eintracht Frankfurt), Rodrigo Moreno (Valencia) and Andre Silva (Sevilla), they have ‘noted’ Griezmann’s interest, although they are surprised.

Griezmann has reportedly also been influenced by Atleti's 10-point deficit to Barca at the top of La Liga and the liklihood that other key players are set to leave the club in the summer, such as Diego Godin, Filipe Luis, Lucas Hernandez and Diego Costa.

This is one of those murky stories that it’s tough to get to the bottom of. With it being international week, a good transfer story is a valuable commodity. However, despite any direct sources or attributable quotes in the article, this could well be on the money.

Griezmann has consistently fallen short at Atletico and there is no denying his – or Barcelona’s –previous interest in the move. And, at 27 years old he needs a move if he wants to have a chance of winning the Champions League and Barca, with Luis Suarez 32 now and Philippe Coutinho continually misfiring, would surely welcome him.