Atletico Madrid's Griezmann ready to lower wage to join Barcelona

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Bengaluru, March 26: Atletico Madrid forward Antonie Griezmann is willing to take a low-ball offer on his salary in order to force through a move to Barcelona, according to reports.

Catalonia’s 'mouthpiece’ publication Sport has run a front-page splash claiming the Frenchman would accept a “low” salary to join the Camp Nou side.

The Frenchman infamously turned down a move to Manchester United last summer, after Atletico Madrid were given a transfer ban.

But in the meantime it appears Barcelona have overtaken the Red Devils as his choice of destination, with a likely exit from the Wanda Metropolitano coming in the summer.

It may not be an ideal situation for Griezmann, with the World Cup coming up in the summer and the 27-year-old acting as one of the poster boys for Les Bleus’ campaign in Russia.

According to Sport, he is demanding a £193,000-a-week salary, which could be an issue for Barcelona, who already have several highly-paid stars on their books.

However, they report that Griezmann is happy to take a lower salary with goal and other performance-related bonuses if it means linking up with the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and France pal Ousmane Dembele.

Griezmann has netted 17 times in La Liga this season and has been particularly effective in the second half of the season, with four goals in Europe as well.

Atletico are sitting pretty in second in the Spanish table at the moment, with very little danger of missing out on Champions League football next term.

But he is determined to take his career to the next level at one of Europe’s truly elite clubs.

A move to Manchester United could still be on the cards but it looks unlikely after the high-profile captures of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez over the last year.