Manchester United plan to trigger the £85 million release clause in Antoine Griezmann’s contract at the end of the season as it emerged Paul Pogba has been making efforts to reassure the Atletico Madrid striker the English weather is not as bad as he fears.

The news comes as Jose Mourinho dismissed as “absurd” suggestions he is plotting a £173 million move to sign Barcelona and Brazil forward Neymar and stressed that he “always [tries] to be objective and pragmatic” with regard to his transfer demands.

Mourinho asked United’s hierarchy as far back as last year to focus their efforts on signing Griezmann this summer as the manager bids to bring more cutting edge to the attack and Old Trafford remains the Frenchman’s most likely destination, unless he decides to stay at Atletico for another season.

Mourinho thinks highly of Monaco’s teenage sensation, Kylian Mbappe, even if the £100 million plus price tag the French club have slapped on the 18-year-old is likely to deter suitors this summer, and Romelu Lukaku’s refusal to sign a new contract at Everton has pricked attention at United but Griezmann still remains the priority target.

Griezmann has made repeated favourable references to the Spanish lifestyle in recent weeks and, in turn, talked less fondly about the infamous English weather. But those public utterances have usually been greeted with playful text messages from United midfielder Pogba, his close friend and compatriot, that he has nothing to worry about in Manchester, which is renowned for being a rainy city.