Manchester United have shown “concrete interest” in signing the Atlético Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, who has an buyout clause of £85m, the France international’s agent Eric Olhats has claimed.

United, who are fifth in the Premier League, have scored the least number of goals among the top six sides and are aiming to strengthen their attack with Griezmann, who has scored 25 goals for Atlético this season.

“We’re at the stage of gathering information from clubs who have a concrete interest,” Olhats told the French TV programme Téléfoot. “There is an unavoidable €100m clause so that restricts the number of candidates. You have United, [Manchester] City, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid. United were the first to come and see us and the most concrete in their wishes.“

United’s attacking options are limited with their top goalscorer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ruled out for a lengthy period after sustaining a knee injury in their Europa League tie against Anderlecht.

The injured midfielder Juan Mata is the next highest scorer this season with six goals, while the 19-year-old striker Marcus Rashford has five. United face City at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday with both teams striving to secure a Champions League berth.