Reports in Spain claim the Catalan giant has reached a secret agreement with the player over a summer transfer.

Recent reports coming out of Spain have claimed Barcelona has already convinced Antoine Griezmann to join them. The Blaugrana could find themselves in trouble if those rumors are true, forcing the club to release an official statement.

Sport wrote that Josep Maria Bartomeu struck a deal with the Atletico Madrid ace who has long been linked with a Camp Nou move. According to the tabloid, that agreement would see the Frenchman make the switch this summer.

Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, SPORT, La Liga

Mundo Deportivo backed up that claim by reporting that a deal had been reached between the Liga table-topper and Griezmann. Furthermore, they stated that the attacker would be handed the number seven jersey which Arda Turan recently vacated.

The Catalan giant issued a public statement to quickly rubbish these claims. They wrote on their official website: “FC Barcelona strongly denies the information that has appeared over the course of the last few hours in different media regarding Atlético Madrid player, Antoine Griezmann, and an alleged deal with our club.

“FC Barcelona expresses its objections in the face of these events and reiterates its full respect for the institution of Atlético Madrid.”

It’s not surprising that Barcelona quickly to dismiss these rumors. Los Rojiblancos has already threatened to report them to La Liga over this illegal approach, as the Madrid club had not given permission to the player to enter negotiations with the Blaugrana.

Nonetheless, Camp Nou remains the likely destination for the 26-year-old. The former Real Sociedad man is on the radar of Man United, but Barcelona is tipped as the front-runner in the race for his signature.