Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti reportedly has no intention of leaving the Camp Nou amid ongoing talk the club are looking to offload him.
The 26-year-old has been with the Catalan giants since 2016 and has gone on to make over 100 appearances for the club having established himself as a key figure in the squad.
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However, injuries have been a major problem for him over the past two seasons, as he has been limited to just 33 appearances across the last two campaigns combined, while he made 40 or more appearances in both seasons prior to that apiece.
In turn, it’s an issue that Barcelona can’t ignore as they need reliability and consistency from their top players to ensure that they are in a strong position to compete on multiple fronts moving forward.
According to Sport, Barca have already decided that they want to try and offload him and have names lined up already to fill that potential void with Eric Garcia named as their priority target.
Ronald Araujo would get the chance to play a more prominent role by putting pressure on Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet too, and so it would seemingly make sense.
However, their plan could be complicated by the fact that the report adds that Umtiti has no intention of leaving, and to the contrary he wants to prove himself again next season by getting himself fully fit and proving just how important he can be to Barcelona still when in peak condition.
Time will tell if he’s able to do that without any hitches, and further, whether it’s enough to convince Barcelona to change their minds or if they will press forward with their touted plan regardless.