Although he wasn’t able to play in Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final because of injuries, it has been announced that Samuel Umtiti has tested positive for COVID-19.
The French World Cup winning centre-back has struggled to regain full fitness ever since sustaining a long-term knee injury.
According to MARCA and cited by Football Espana, Umtiti is asymptomatic and feeling fine.
Regardless of his current issues, he will now have to quarantine and be unable to return to training until he tests negative.
It’s another setback for a player who has gone from being an almost guaranteed starter for the Catalans to losing his place to countryman, Clement Lenglet.
Unless Umtiti can get a period of games played in a row in order to get back to true match fitness, the expectation for the immediate future will surely be that he will consistently be nothing more than a back-up.
For now, getting back to health will be the priority.