Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez’s preferred destination is Barcelona, according to AS. The Madrid-based publication says that, despite interest from Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, the player’s preference would be to stay in Spain.

There were claims in the English media last week that the 26-year-old’s agent was scheduled to fly in for talks with the Red Devils, but AS say those reports were inaccurate.

At the moment, no Premier League club has made a move for Niguez while Barca are expected to reopen discussions with Atletico “in the coming days” about a potential transfer.

It is now believed that a deal does not hinge on Antoine Griezmann moving in the other direction, but there are still some issues that need to be resolved.

Barcelona still have to reduce the size of their squad and they need to offload Miralem Pjanic, Martin Braithwaite, Neto and Samuel Umtiti before bringing in any reinforcements.