Report: Barcelona is ready to let go of Umtiti for free next summer

According to Diaro AS and relayed by Tribuna, Barcelona are willing to let French defender Samuel Umtiti go for free in the upcoming summer transfer window. With the incoming of new president Joan Laporta, the club are looking to offload players that Ronald Koeman doesn’t consider to be a part of his plan.

Umtiti is one of the key transfers away for the Catalan club, as he is currently sitting on the bench with astronomical wages. Given the club’s dire financial state, they will surely be looking to offload him.

Umtiti was signed by Barcelona in 2016 and enjoyed two very successful campaigns as a starter for the club. However, after the World Cup in 2018, knee injuries that he had been struggling with ever since a meniscus removal surgery at age seventeen came back to bite him, constantly plaguing him and preventing him from playing regular football.

Ever since 2018, it has seemed that Umtiti’s time at the club is numbered; however, due to his high wage demands, securing a transfer away for him has been difficult.

This season, young and upcoming defenders such as Oscar Mingueza and Ronald Araujo have overtaken the French defender in Koeman’s pecking order, and left-footed Clement Lenglet also being considered more important by the Dutch Manager.

In the leaked report by the Barça sporting staff, it is revealed that for Junior, Neto, and Umtiti will not continue at Barça next season. Alejando Baldé will also be promoted to the first team.

— TV3 pic.twitter.com/aTheQmRURL

— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) January 29, 2021

In fact, when Gerard Pique has been fit this season, he has also been higher than Umtiti, leaving the Frenchman as Koeman’s fifth choice. Therefore, it seems only fair that the club wishes to transfer him out, especially considering his high wage demands.

However, a new report from Diaro AS claims that the Garnet and the Blue are willing to offload him for free this summer. While this may initially raise a few eyebrows, a move like this may make sense considering the financial conditions of both the club that will sign him in the coming summer as well as Umtiti’s stubborn wage demands.

It seems that the priority for the club is to get him off the wage roster rather than securing a transfer fee for his sale. That being said, if Umtiti can still command a small but respectable transfer free, the club should be sure to take the route of securing such a fee rather than losing out on the opportunity, and transferring him out for free.