Man Utd and Arsenal among six clubs interested in World Cup winner as Euro giants consider exit

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Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea are just three of the clubs reportedly interested in Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti as he continues to attract plenty of attention.

The 26-year-old joined the Catalan giants in 2016, and while he featured heavily in his first two seasons at the Nou Camp, he was dogged by knee injury problems last year which limited him to just 15 appearances.

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Although he featured more frequently prior to the suspension of the current campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic, Umtiti had only managed 16 games so far this season, and so there will be concerns over the toll that those setbacks have had on him.

Nevertheless, he remains a world-class operator when fully fit and in top form, as shown in his trophy collection having now won two La Liga titles, a string of domestic cups in Spain as well as the World Cup with France in 2018.

However, speculation over his future is seemingly not going to stop, as Mundo Deportivo report that Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Inter, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain are just six of the named clubs who are said to have enquired about the centre-half.

It’s added that given he is in such high demand, he could be used in a swap deal for Barcelona to land a preferred target of their own as they are open to talks, although any exit could be complicated by the claim from Mundo Deportivo’s report that Umtiti himself has no desire to leave the Nou Camp and so it remains to be seen if he can be convinced otherwise if the club agree on a deal.

Swapping Umtiti for another defender is arguably the only deal that makes sense for Barcelona too, as with Clement Lenglet the only other senior option available in that department next to Gerard Pique who turns 34 next year, they risk leaving themselves dangerously short of options for a club looking to compete on multiple fronts at the highest level year in and year out.

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