Manchester United’s week gets even worse with the latest Antoine Griezmann reports

Following a thoroughly miserable Sunday afternoon for Manchester United's supporters, it was inevitable that we'd find ourselves reading about Antoine Griezmann in the days ahead.

Sure enough, less than 48 hours after Manchester City left Old Trafford with another three points in the bag, the Griezmann transfer talk has indeed returned - though it's not exactly the sort of transfer talk many United fans would've wanted to hear... Even though Atletico Madrid's transfer ban prompted the French forward to pull the plug on his move to United during the summer, many still expected him to complete the move at some point in the next 12 months. Summer 2018 was more likely; January was a slim possibility. Now though, it seems all hope of a Griezmann move to Manchester has gone up in smoke. According to Miguel Delaney in the Independent, Barcelona have now 'surged well ahead' of United in the pursuit of his signature. Still with a decent wedge of that Neymar money burning a hole in their pockets, Barca are said to see Griezmann as the ideal player to add more mobility to their attack. The report adds that senior officials at both United and Atleti are now under the impression that the player will move to the Camp Nou in the summer, not Old Trafford. United are said to have cooled their interest in Griezmann, already identifying other players that might operate in a similar role to the one they'd earmarked for him had he arrived last summer.