The club have released a statement saying Barcelona met the player during a crucial spell in their season and have rejected a proposed late payment for the player.
Atletico Madrid have responded to Barcelona's interest in Antoine Griezmann with a statement on their official website. Josep Maria Bartomeu said that the two clubs sat down and discussed the transfer of the French attacker after he announced in May that he would be leaving the club in the summer.
"On the 14th of May, Antoine Griezmann told Miguel Angel Gil, Diego Simeone and Andrea Berta about his decision to leave the club at the end of the season," the statement reads. "In the days following this meeting, Atletico Madrid became aware that Barcelona and Griezmann had reached an agreement in March, specifically, in the days following the loss to Juventus in the Champions League."
The statement says that a meeting did take place, as Bartomeu said, and that the CEO Oscar Grau, outlined the club's plan to pay the release clause of the player once the figure dropped from €200 million to €120 million.
"He also asked for a postponement of the payment for the said amount," the statement reads. Atletico rejected that request from Barcelona and say that they responded negatively because of the lack of respect Griezmann has shown to the club and the club's fans during the whole affair.
The club have told Griezmann he must present himself for preseason training next Sunday with the rest of his players. The statement goes on to say that the club did not take kindly to speaking to a player while under contract and "not just playing the game against Juventus but playing against Barcelona too."