Chelsea have reportedly approached Barcelona star defender Samuel Umtiti’s agent with regards to a potential transfer.
The French centre-back put in stellar performances for the French national team in the 2018 FIFA World Cup as France went on to lift the trophy, but he has since struggled at Barcelona with injuries hampering his progress.
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The 26-year-old defender has been suffering from knee injuries which have seen him make only 15 appearances last season and 16 appearances this season.
It now looks like Barcelona are willing to offload Umtiti after setting an asking price of €50m (£44.5m) for the former Lyon man as Chelsea show an interest, according to Nicolo Schira in the tweet below:
#Barcelona are open to selling Samuel #Umtiti in the summer. #Barça ask €50M. #Arsenal were interested in him last year, but the central-back chose to stay. Now #Chelsea are also interested in him and have ask for info to his agent (A.Canales). #transfers #FCB #CFC
— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) March 31, 2020
The journalist claims the Blues have contacted Umtiti’s agent about a potential move, which could be a useful one for the club as they look to re-establish themselves as serious title contenders in the near future.
Despite Umtiti’s struggles at the Nou Camp, he could well prove an upgrade on unconvincing performers like Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen at Stamford Bridge.
Umtiti has also been mentioned as a target for Arsenal by the Daily Mirror, and the Gunners arguably need this signing more than Chelsea do, so will surely be hoping they can still win the race for his signature.
CFC, however, will no doubt be motivated by the prospect of beating one of their top four rivals to such a potentially top player.