Barcelona chief does little to cool talk of move for Antoine Griezmann in the January transfer window

Barcelona may have made an approach to sign Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann, according to the club's director of sporting relations Guillermo Amor.

Last summer amid reported interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, Griezmann signed a one-year contract extension which ties him down to Atletico until 2022.

With Los Rojiblancos under a transfer ban until January 2018, Griezmann said he did not want to leave the club and deliver a "low blow" to Diego Simeone's side.

But despite the admission, the France international's future at Atletico continues to be questioned, with reports this week claiming that Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu had a meal with Griezmann's sister and parents to talk about a summer move for the forward.

Amor admits he doesn't know if this is true, but did say that a potential meeting between the Barcelona president and Griezmann's family would show that a transfer is coming ever closer to reality.

"If Bartomeu met with Griezmann's family as the newspapers say, then there may well have been an approach," Amor told Movistar. "Though, I don't know anything for sure.

"There is a good relationship, there can also be comfortable conversations. Rumours are inevitable in the football world.

"In Griezmann's case there are many people we talk to; it's our obligation to have contact with players."

Atletico boss Diego Simeone recently said he would not stop any of his best players, including Griezmann, from leaving should they decide to go elsewhere to continue the development of their careers.

"Of course he can leave at some point, like Diego Costa and Arda Turan did in their day," Simeone told L'Equipe.

"I love watching my players grow, and if one of them tells me that they have the unique opportunity of playing for a certain team, after they did everything they could for me, like Griezmann has done, I'll say it's not a problem.

"I know that he needs to grow."

Meanwhile, the striker is facing a fierce backlash from fans after 'blacking up' for a fancy dress outfit.

Griezmann posted a picture of himself on Twitter covered head to toe in dark make-up to dress up as a basketball player.

Griezmann captioned the picture "80's party" with a basketball emoji followed by a laughing emoji, later clarifying that it was meant as a "tribute" to the Harlem Globetrotters.