Atlético report Barcelona to FIFA for ‘tapping up’ Antoine Griezmann

Barcelona are keen to sign Antoine Griezmann next summer, with the Frenchman’s €100 million buyout clause more appealing to the club than what it would cost to pry Phillipe Coutinho from Liverpool: the Reds want the bidding to start at €160 million.

But the Catalan club’s aggressiveness has resulted in Atlético Madrid reporting them for contacting the player illegally while he is under contract with the Madrid club.

According to AS, an Atlético source said that ”the complaint has been presented for repeated contact between Barcelona, the player and his team.” That was before FIFA acknowledged receipt of the complaint as the rojiblanco club proved they were not bluffing.

Guillermo Amor, Barça’s director of institutional relations, said on Sunday that “it is possible there has been an approach and that some progress has been made.

"It’s work the club is normally accustomed to doing. In the football world it’s inevitable that people talk about players. It’s something that tends to happen,” he continued.

Barcelona have already found themselves in hot water over tapping up players with Gremio threatening a complaint and legal action over a photo with their midfielder, Arthur, in a Barcelona jersey flanked by a Barcelona scout and Robert Fernandez, the club’s sporting director.