BARCELONA
Umtiti: "I'll be at Barcelona next season"
The French central defender says he will be at Barcelona next season despite an injury-plagued year and the threat of De Ligt signing from Ajax.
The Samuel Umtiti saga seems to be over before it even began...or is it? The Barcelona player represented France in their 2-0 loss to Turkey when he spoke to RTL about his future after the game.
"I have a contract and I am happy at Barcelona," he said. "It's true that it has been a complicated season for me but I'm not going to throw in the towel now and I won't give up on my dreams to keep playing for Barcelona."
The LaLiga winners are planning a summer overhaul having lost out in the Champions League again before the final.
Barcelona will need to make room for De Ligt
Barcelona remain heavily linked with Matthijs de Light, however, and that could mean a problem is brewing. If they do sign the defender from Ajax, it will mean they have three defenders on more than €6 million per year and they will have to alter their wage bill to compensate.
Umtiti signed a contract renewal last summer after returning from the World Cup until 2023 that pushed his take-home pay to more than €6 million per year. His knee injury relegated him to the infirmary and from there to the bench where he spent most of the season with Clement Lenglet taking his place in his first year at the club.
The possibility of having five central defender in the squad when you consider Jean Clair Tobido is out of the question for Barça and someone will have to leave one way or the other.
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