Barcelona given 'positive response' from Antoine Griezmann's entourage ahead of £88.8m summer move

Barcelona are said to have received a "positive response" from Antoine Griezmann's entourage ahead of making a move to lure him to the Nou Camp during the summer transfer window.

Mundo Deportivo claims that the La Liga giants have already begun conversations with the player's camp in order to beat competition from other clubs after pointing out that both Manchester United and Real Madrid already considered signing him last summer.

The 26-year-old forward was at one point tipped to move to Jose Mourinho's side after admitting during an interview that his chances of moving to United were "six out of ten"

However, Griezmann finally changed his mind and decided to sign a new deal at Atletico Madrid after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld their Fifa transfer embargo.

Los Colchoneros agreed then to increase his release clause from €100m (£88.8m, $116.3m) to €200m in order to avoid losing him during the duration of the transfer embargo.

However, speculation linking him with a move away ahead of 2018's summer transfer window have resurfaced since it emerged that his clause will be reduced to €100m again from 1 July 2018.

Earlier this month Mundo Deportivo reported that Ernesto Valverde had identified the Frenchman as his number one priority to bolster his attack ahead of the 2018-2019 campaign.

The La Liga giants already signed Ousmane Dembele to replace Neymar in the summer but the report said that Barcelona transfer chiefs Pep Segura and Robert Fernandez also wanted Griezmann to form a new frightening trident alongside Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.

Now the Spanish publication claims that Barcelona have taken the next step towards completing his signing by making a first approach to Griezmann's entourage to sound out whether he will be keen on making the move.

And Mundo Deportivo says that the "response was positive as Griezmann is thrilled by the interest from the La Liga giants because he wants to make a step forward in his career."

Barcelona plan to "act quickly" and close a verbal agreement with the player as soon as possible in order to avoid other clubs joining the battle.

However, Manchester United are still said to be monitoring the situation and his reputation is only expected to grow further at next summer's World Cup in Russia.

Furthermore, his €100m release clause looks a tempting price for a player who has scored 86 goals in 170 appearances since joining Atletico Madrid from Real Sociedad in the summer of 2014.