Manchester United rekindle interest in Barcelona target Griezmann

Manchester United have entered the race to sign Antoine Griezmann two years after missing out on the Atletico Madrid striker, claims The Independent.

Atletico have confirmed Griezmann will leave the club this summer and it was expected the 2018 World Cup winner would join Barcelona.

The La Liga champions want to bolster their offensive options and earmarked Griezmann as a top transfer target.

Griezmann, who has a £108m release clause, would be capable of playing out wide and eventually succeeding as Luis Suarez’s long-term replacement.

However, it has now emerged senior figures at Barcelona are having doubts about the 28-year-old.

In order to afford Griezmann's arrival, as well as Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, Barcelona will have to sell some high profile names this summer, such as Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti.

United thought there were going to sign Griezmann in 2017 only for the France international to stay at Atletico.

Griezmann’s idol is David Beckham and the United No.7 shirt would certainly appeal to him at Old Trafford.

However, it remains to be seen whether he would be willing to gamble the prime years of his career at an unstable club that cannot offer Champions League football next season.

Griezmann is willing to take a pay cut to join Barcelona but that would not necessarily be the case with United, who would certainly be able to match the terms in his current Atletico deal.

The Atletico No.7 finished this season with 15 goals and nine assists in the league, four fewer goal contributions than he managed in 2017/18.