Barcelona hopes to be able to discharge Samuel Umtiti as soon as possible. Sport writes that the Catalans are starting to lose patience with the 27-year-old centre-back, slowly but surely making it a real scenario that he will be sacked. There are plenty of clubs with interest, but Umtiti is picky when it comes to choosing a new employer.
Umtiti and Miralem Pjanic top the list of players who should leave Barcelona as soon as possible, in order to save money. The Bosnian midfielder has recently been strongly linked to a return to Serie A, where Juventus, Fiorentina and Napoli are said to be interested. There would be interest for Umtiti from Italy, Turkey and France. A step to Turkey really does not seem to be in it, because he has rejected a financially attractive offer.
At the moment, AS Monaco, OGC Nice and AS Roma are mentioned as concrete candidates for Umtiti, but the question is whether they can bring him in. Umtiti would have set his sights on a club that is active in the Champions League and that has not yet reported. OGC Nice and AS Roma are not active in the Champions League anyway, while AS Monaco still has a chance to reach the billion-dollar ball. Then a 0-1 defeat from the first leg against Shakhtar Donetsk in the last preliminary round must be brushed away on Wednesday evening.
Furthermore, Umtiti would bet on a departure on a rental basis, something that is Sport considered among the possibilities. The Spanish sports newspaper emphasizes that Barcelona is slowly but surely starting to lose its patience with Umtiti. The Catalans are trying to persuade him to choose one of the interested clubs. If it is not possible to get Umtiti away in this way, it cannot be ruled out that Barcelona will proceed with a resignation. His contract runs until mid-2023, but the club has made it clear to him that he is absolutely not in the plans this season and does not have to count on playing minutes.
Umtiti also seems to realize that he has no future in Barcelona. Then El Chiringuito was waiting for him at his car last weekend, he was asked if he saw any room for himself in the Barcelona squad. “I have room in my car…”, was his cynical reply. Two weeks ago, Umtiti was whistled by the crowd at the Estadi Johan Cruyff during the friendly match against Juventus, after which he decided to hold the prize-giving ceremony of the Trofeo Joan Gamper “Sometimes it’s better to say nothing and let silence settle things,” Umtiti said on Instagram.