Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu has left the door open to a potential swoop for Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann.
The 28-year-old officially announced his decision to move on from Atleti during the season last year, and is now expected to secure an exit this summer.
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It comes off the back of another impressive campaign in which he scored 21 goals and provided 10 assists in 48 appearances, but ultimately Diego Simeone’s side fell short of winning major honours.
In turn, it appears as though Griezmann is ready for a new challenge, with the Guardian noting that his release clause will drop to €120m on July 1, at which point it’s expected that any interested parties will make their move.
Among those who have long been tipped to swoop is Barcelona, but Bartomeu was giving nothing away at the weekend, albeit his comments have been interpreted as a way of refusing to rule out the possibility of making a move for Griezmann this summer.
“We’ve have always said, we haven’t spoken, there is nothing but we will see how the market evolves in the coming days and weeks,” he is quoted as saying by Mundo Deportivo.
“Now we’re focused on the work we do internally and very discreetly, hoping to do a good job that will make us have a great team for the coming season.”
Reinforcements in attack are arguably needed at Barcelona though, given the lack of quality depth behind Luis Suarez.
While Barca have seemingly always found a way to manage that issue, it will surely be to the benefit of coach Ernesto Valverde and his squad to have additional quality in that department to allow him to rotate and have different options.
Time will tell if Griezmann emerges as a possible solution, but given his track record at the highest level for club and country, he would certainly be a quality signing.
