Barcelona will reportedly meet representatives from Atletico Madrid in the next few days to discuss the possibility of signing Antoine Griezmann this summer.
Griezmann's future has been the subject of much debate in recent transfer windows, with the Frenchman making it clear that he wanted to leave the club last summer before performing a U-turn as a result of Atletico being handed a transfer ban.
Manchester United were long considered the favourites to sign Griezmann, but Barcelona are understood to have moved above United in the race for his signature and Sport reports that the Catalan giants are keen to push through a move as soon as possible.
Club officials will meet with Atletico Madrid this week to thrash out terms, with both Barca and Griezmann eager to complete negotiations before the start of the World Cup in June.
Barcelona are even understood to be willing to pay more than Griezmann's €100m (£87.4m) release clause to ensure that the deal goes through quickly and smoothly.
The 27-year-old is also reportedly prepared to sacrifice money in order to make the move happen following speculation that he would need to take a pay cut as part of the deal.
Barney Corkhill
