United have made a ‘concrete’ move for Griezmann

LONDON: Manchester United have shown “concrete interest” in signing Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, who has an exit clause of £85million, the Frenchman’s agent Eric Olhats has said.

United, who are fifth in the Premier League, have scored the least number of goals among the top six sides and are aiming to strengthen their attack with Griezmann, pictured, who has scored 25 goals for Atletico this season.

“We’re at the stage of gathering information from clubs who have a concrete interest,” Olhats told French television programme Telefoot.

“There is an unavoidable clause (about £85m) so that restricts the number of candidates. You have United, (Manchester) City, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid. United were the first to come and see us and the most concrete in their wishes.”

United’s attacking options are limited with top goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic ruled out for the season after sustaining a serious knee injury in their Europa League tie against Anderlecht.

Injured midfielder Juan Mata is the next highest scorer this season for the club with six strikes, while 19-year-old striker Marcus Rashford has five.

The Manchester derby is “the game of the season” and will play a decisive role in both teams’ chances of finishing in the top four, United midfielder Ander Herrera has said.

United, who are fifth in the table, trail fourth-placed City by a point and Herrera believes whichever team wins the derby will be in pole position to book a spot for next season’s Champions League.

“It’s going to be the game of the season,” Herrera told the club’s website. “I don’t know the ‘winner takes all’ expression but it’s going to be a massive game.

“If one of us wins it, we are not going to lose a lot of games or make mistakes after that. It will be key. We are in a very good moment, on a very good run ... and we have to show it on Thursday.” – Reuters