28-year-old refuses to leave Barcelona in January

A saga that seems to never end: Samuel Umtiti and FC Barcelona. Despite what seems to be the majority of Barcelona fans wanting the Frenchman to leave the club, the defender has remained staunch in his desire to stay at the Catalan capital and has continued this trend, as per Mundo Deportivo.

After a relatively promising first couple seasons at Barcelona, the 28-year-old has been rather underwhelming in the Blaugrana defence (woeful as it is). The French defender remains the player with the one of the highest wages in the club, despite rare appearances on the pitch.

Despite earlier reports suggesting that Xavi was “pleasantly surprised” with Umtiti’s training prior to his first match against Espanyol, the World Cup winner has started in only one of the matches under the management of the former captain. 

With reports suggesting that offloading players in the January window will be virtually necessary for the Catalans, Umtiti’s future at Barcelona remains in doubt.

With that said, the defender is allegedly still stubborn as to his wish to stay at the club. Despite knowing that Xavi will be unable to give him minutes, the Frenchman thinks that competing is essential.

Umtiti has displayed such an ardent desire to remain in the face of transfer rumours for a while now, with Benfica reportedly being interested, a possibility that the 28-year-old rejected. That said, the Portuguese club are still in the pole position to sign him, should he leave.

This comes at the face of Barcelona hoping to get rid of a number of players in January, reportedly in an attempt to sign defender Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus.

Reports that link the Blaugrana to a defender confirm the fact that Umtiti is far from Xavi’s plans, although his adamant reluctance to move would suggest that he plans on spending his days till his 5-year contract expires.