Griezmann within touching distance of Barcelona move

Antoine Griezmann's release clause is to drop to 120m and, going by Atleti chief exec Miguel Ángel Gil Marín's words, he's as good as a Barça player.

Antoine Griezmann now appears to be within touching distance of joining Barcelona, a year behind schedule. The forward's Atlético Madrid release clause drops to 120m euros tomorrow, and ever since he announced he was to leave Los Rojiblancos back in mid-May, confirmation of his next destination has never been closer - particularly if you bear in mind the comments made by Atleti chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil Marín that the club "have known since March" that he'll be a Barça player next term.

Having threatened to become unbearable, the speculation over Griezmann's mooted Camp Nou move has taken something of a back seat to talk of a Neymar return to the club, so much so that the forward has even been tipped to instead go to Paris Saint-Germain to replace the Brazilian. However, despite the profound disappointment caused at Barça by the way he rejected the Catalans through his La Decisión documentary last year, Griezmann has no plans on letting the move fall through this time.

6m-euro pay cut to join Barcelona

According to L'Equipe, Griezmann is to put pen to paper on a contract running until 2024, with the Blaugrana to hand the 27-year-old a salary of 17m euros a year. That's a 6m-euro reduction on the improved deal that he ended up signing at Atlético last summer, an agreement that included an increased release clause of 200m euros, but which left the door open to the player by dropping that buy-out to 120m 12 months later. From March on, Barça rumours began to circulate once more.

Dressing room not entirely convinced...

In April, Griezmann was not well received by the Barcelona fans when he played for Atlético at the Camp Nou and, though he could be seen sharing a laugh and a joke with Blaugrana players, his mooted arrival at the club is also thought to be the cause of a few doubts within the dressing room, too. Having publicly supported his signing last year only for Griezmann to turn his back on the move, there are widespread reports that Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez are no longer convinced of the merits of signing 'Le Petit Prince', and are more enthusiastic about bringing Neymar back to Catalonia.

Barring a surprise turn of events, however, it seems Griezmann will be at Barcelona next season.