Report: United ready to pounce if Griezmann's available in summer

Manchester United is prepared to make a sensational swoop for Antoine Griezmann if he appears to be available next summer.

Jose Mourinho’s lot doesn’t see the Atletico Madrid striker as a realistic signing in the January transfer window, reports Sky Sports News HQ, but sees him as an ideal fit if there’s a chance he can be tempted from the Spanish capital in the future.

Griezmann has previously confessed that he would be interested in linking up with fellow France international and United’s summer signing Paul Pogba at club level, but said he didn’t envision departing Atleti anytime soon.

“I always ask Paul Pogba about Manchester United,” Griezmann told Sky in Germany in November. “I think they are a huge club with a really good infrastructure.

“I ask Paul about some of the players, and if they’re really that good, or if Jose Mourinho is really that good.

“You hear a lot of things (speculation) about Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain but right now I don’t see me moving to a new club. But it would be awesome to play alongside Paul one day.”

Griezmann, 25, presumably hasn’t hit the peak of his powers in attack, and would offer a long-term replacement for the seemingly effervescent 35-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Mourinho hasn’t been shy in splurging cash in previous tenures either, and continued that trait with the world-record €105-million transfer fee spent on Pogba, and the further signings of £30-million Eric Bailly and £26.3-million Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the previous transfer window.