The Barcelona center-back is sidelined with a knee injury.
Samuel Umtiti does not want to consider a move away from Barcelona and is adamant on staying and wanting to fight for a spot on the team.
The World Cup winner is out with another knee injury with no timetable as to when he’ll be able to return.
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According to Sport, the French defender is happy at Barcelona and has set up roots in the city. The report claims that he has started projects in the city as thinking this is where he will retire.
But the Catalan side have other plans in mind.
They want to cash in on Umtiti and move him on. Since winning the World Cup in 2018, he hasn’t been the same player they signed from Lyon. Injuries have kept him out of the side far too often and this season he’s lost his place to Clement Lenglet.
He simply can’t stay fit for an extended period of time which makes the manager hesitant to use him.
Barcelona’ desire to get rid of him stretches so far that they are not balking at the idea of possibly letting him leave on loan.
Barcelona shuffling a few replacement options.
Barcelona is already preparing for a life after Umtiti. They’ve been heavily linked with Manchester City’s Eric Garcia as a possible replacement with negotiations over a possible move to take place after the Champions League.
Ronald Araujo has also emerged this season as another option for Quique Setien. His good performances with Barça B earned him his senior team debut this season and was the player called upon when Umtiti went down injured.
Unfortunately, Araujo also suffered an injury in Barça B’s playoff final loss to Sabadell. Regardless, on the depth chart, the Uruguayan is currently third on the depth chart ahead of Umtiti.
Barcelona still have the option to bring back Marlon Santos. The Brazilian defender is at Sassuolo and has featured heavily for the Serie A side.
He gave an interview where he stated that his dream is to one day return to Barcelona. If he reaches 50 games with Sassuolo, Barça have the option of bringing him back for €6 million.
But Umtiti refuses to give up and is betting on himself to regain his form and to fight for a place on the team. It’s been two years now dealing with the knee injury and Barça seem to have run out of patience.
Should he change his mind and accept a move, Napoli is one team rumored to be interested in him. If he ultimately does stay, he is going to have to start from scratch and accept a significantly reduced role.