'Griezmann hinted at Barca move & There was contact between Messi and him'

Griezmann is being tipped to leave Atletico Madrid for Barcelona, with the World Cup winner already confirming he will be on the move at the end of the campaign.

The France international has spent the last five years in the Spanish capital but is now keen to leave as he aims to win a league title and the Champions League.

Griezmann nearly joined Barcelona a year ago, only to change his mind at the last minute.

Many have claimed, though, that the 28-year-old regrets his decision to stay at Atletico for one more season.

And, now, Spanish journalist Robert Gomez has claimed that Griezmann told Atletico he wants to pal with Messi.

"Griezmann hinted at the directors of Atletico de Madrid that he has done it with a team,” he said.

“And it's going to be Barca.

“They do not communicate now because now they would have to pay 200 million euros, but it's going to be a long month and a half for the azulgrana,

“The only thing that has transpired from the meeting between Griezmann, Gil Marin, Diego Simeone and Andrea Berta is that Griezmann literally said 'I can not tell Leo [Messi] no.

“So there was contact between Messi and the French.”

La Liga expert Graham Hunter, meanwhile, believes Messi is what will end up convincing Griezmann to join Barcelona.

“If the Catalans are willing to deposit his €130m buyout clause on July 1 and persuade Griezmann to reject other offers, then Messi is jewel in the crown,” he said.

“To play next to arguably the greatest footballer of all-time, to learn from him, to benefit from his largesse and to accompany him onto the podium to lift trophy after trophy - well that's a legitimate dream for any elite footballer, not just a guy like Griezmann.

“Luis Suarez has been Messi's best-ever strike partner for a number of reasons.

“His hunger, total commitment to winning relentlessly, additional goal power, and centre forward play which complements the Argentinian's need to flit around the spaces which emerge when a No. 9 is on the ball.

“Suarez is a hugely intuitive, genuine and generous 'amigo' for Messi to play with, but at 32 he's not getting any younger and his record of failing to score away from home in the Champions League for three-and-a-half years isn't just atrocious it's an indication that things will never get better again on that front.

“I'd say it's a good bet that Suarez is off to David Beckham's Inter Miami FC project in a year at the latest.

“He's not going to be offered a new contract and the supreme domestic form we've witnessed this season does not suggest that there's not room for someone to challenge, and eventually replace, him.

“Indeed, the way in which Griezmann happily feeds Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata, or even his French international team partners, indicates that there's a potential dovetail with Messi.

“Others have tried and succeeded, or failed, to relative degrees -- but the evidence is that a Messi-Griezmann axis is, hypothetically, perfect.”