Barcelona Want Griezmann, Frenchman Says 'I'm Among Top 3 In The World'

Barcelona wants to sign Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann in the summer and have been on his trail since 2017 with the club hierarchy confident of completing the deal despite their La Liga rivals reluctant to let go of their star player.

The France international scored a brace as he helped Atletico beat Marseille 3-0 to win the Europa League on Thursday which made him an even more attractive proposition. He has been on the radar of top clubs around Europe for a long time, but he has chosen to stick with Atletico for the past four seasons.

Griezmann came close to joining Manchester United last summer but chose to sign an extension with Atletico and currently has a €200 million ($235 million) release clause in his contract, but, that will be reduced to €100 million on July 1 after which Barcelona are likely to make an official move to sign him.

The French forward was not keen on talking about his future after the Europa League win, but he paid tribute to Atletico coach Diego Simeone. Griezmann labeled himself among the top three players in the world at the moment and believes his rise to the top is due to his work with the Argentine coach.

"It is not the moment to talk about my future, I must enjoy having won a trophy, and celebrate it with the fans," Griezmann said, as quoted on ESPN. "The truth is this was a dream for me, to win a trophy with Atletico, with [Diego Simeone] and my friends and teammates.”

“Your feeling for a club gets stronger every game, every year. I've been here four years, and I have enjoyed today with the fans, the people of the club, my relationship with them is strong, which is why I give everything on the pitch."

"It's also true that I have learnt a lot with Cholo [Simeone]," he added. "I am a better player thanks to him. I am among the best three players in the world because of him."

According to Sport, Barcelona are almost confident of completing a deal in the summer with the Spanish publication revealing a timeline for the potential completion of the deal. It is being reported that Griezmann will announce he is leaving the Spanish capital club after their final league game on May 20.

After that, he is expected to formally begin negotiations with his potential new employers with regards to personal terms and is said to want to have his future sorted out before France begin their World Cup campaign against Australia on June 16.

The Sport report also claimed Barcelona are unlikely to wait until after the World Cup to confirm the deal. The Catalan club are said to want to officially announce the deal on July 1 by either meeting his release clause or coming to an agreement with Atletico.