As per Fox Sports, Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has made it clear that the club should start looking for replacements for Umtiti. In his opinion, the Frenchman doesn’t fit into the club dynamics anymore.
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Umtiti has had repeated injury layoffs in the past year and a half and hasn’t been regular on the field. Lionel wants Barcelona to sign Manchester City’s target, Unai Nunez from Athletic Bilbao as a replacement. Moreover, Pique is nearing retirement and they need a quality defender who can play the ball game to fill that void.
The 22 year-old is currently valued at £15 million and he started his career with Athletic Bilbao as a junior player and has moved up the ranks since then. Overall, he has featured 54 times for his club. That’s a pretty good number for a young player like him.
In the ongoing season, Nunez has made three appearances with one of them coming in the memorable 1-0 win against the Blaugranes. It should be mentioned that he had a pivotal role to play in that victory. Moreover, he featured in the entire 90 minutes against the Blaugranes.
With Arsenal also interested in the target, Messi wants Barca to act quickly. Messi has been a part of the club for over 15 years now and it is fair to say that he understands the club dynamics better than anyone else. The management should not take his advice lightly as it could prove to be disastrous.