Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo claim that Antoine Griezmann and Barcelona are very close to a final agreement which will see the French forward sign a deal for 5 years. The report claims that Griezmann will move to Barcelona in the summer of 2018 when his release clause will become 100 million Euros from the present value of 200 million Euros. The Spanish league mandates that every player needs to have a release clause. Manchester United were the favorites to sign the French star who didn’t move from Atletico in the summer of 2017 only because of their transfer ban which would have prevented them from signing any replacement.

Journalist Fernando Polo has published this report in Mundo Deportivo and Polo has been very reliable with Barcelona transfer news in 2017. Both the Semedo and the Dembele deals were reported by him. Griezmann can play across the front three and also as a number 10, but it remains to be seen on how Valverde plans to play him. This might mean the end of Luis Suarez at Barcelona as the former Liverpool man has struggled for form this season.