Barcelona working on the sale of injury-prone defender to Ligue 1

Apart from the very obvious incoming operations, Barcelona are also putting equal efforts into those who can bring in a decent amount of profit, and a certain Samuel Umtiti has been identified as the one who fulfils the purpose.

Spanish news outlet, Diario SPORT, says the world cup winning defender has been on market in recent years, but thanks to a troubling physical state, his entourages have failed to find him a decent suitor.

The outlet further says that Barcelona, themselves, are trying to find a suitor and while several Ligue 1 sides have expressed interest, many of them have backed out due to his salary.

As of today, several French teams have asked for a potential loan deal, but the fact remains that not only Barcelona, but even the player will have to collaborate.

Last summer, the defender had an offer from Besiktas and Barça were open to taking it further. That mostly because the team suffered from consequences of next to zero sporting performance and an extremely high salary.

The player, however, made a personal request to president Joan Laporta, asking him to buy some time to prove his worth. As it tuns out, though, he has managed to clock a mere 90 minutes for the entirety of the season.

As a result, the team wanted to put him on the market in January, but thanks to another injury, they were forced to send him back to the treatment table.

Between January and May, a lot of things have changed, including Umtiti’s understanding that he will have to find a new challenge in the summer if he wishes to get a place in France’s world cup squad.

For that to happen, those representing the player know finding a suitor at this salary would be next to impossible, and that is why they looking for a return ticket to Ligue 1 where there is still interest.

In that regard, SPORT says Umtiti’s personal preference is to return to Olympique de Lyon, but the team hasn’t shown any interest. The teams that have, in fact, knocked on Barcelona’s doors are Montpellier, Nice and Rennes.

Judging by the look of things, it’s pretty much clear that the possibility of playing in Turkey has been completely ruled out.

But for Barça, they are willing to listen to any offer even if it has a purchase option or not. On top of that, if they somehow manage to find a suitor, they will share the salary as they did with Coutinho.

And so, the outright priority for everyone involved is to find Umtiti a new team.