Barcelona chief confirms meeting was held with €100m transfer target’s representatives

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Barcelona have world-class options in attack, but it seems as though the Catalan giants have been plotting to strengthen further this summer.

Ernesto Valverde has enjoyed quite the first campaign in charge at the Nou Camp, winning the La Liga title and Copa del Rey, while also going unbeaten in the league with just three games remaining.

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In turn, it doesn’t appear as though he needs to tweak too much in his squad as he has found a good balance in the side which has led to their success.

However, club president Josep Bartomeu has now revealed that he did indeed hold a meeting with representatives of Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann in October last year, suggesting that Barcelona did, and may well still be exploring the idea of signing the French international this summer.

“In October we saw his representatives, but we talked with many other representatives, no one speculates on that,” he is quoted as saying by Mundo Deportivo, while adding that he speaks with Atleti president Enrique Cerezo “on many subjects, but it’s not the time to talk about that”.

Confirming an albeit informal meeting by the sounds of it, is a pretty big step as ultimately Bartomeu is confirming that Griezmann is of interest to Barcelona.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t suggest that a transfer is any closer as no agreement has yet been reached between the two clubs or with the player it seems.

As noted by Marca last summer, if Barcelona are adamant on bolstering their attacking line-up despite already having the likes of Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Philippe Coutinho in the side, then they will have to splash out €100m on Griezmann as per the release clause in his contract.

In turn, time will tell if the 27-year-old, who has impressed again this season with 27 goals and 14 assists in 46 appearances, will be plying his trade at the Nou Camp next season.

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