Pranav Nair
Manchester United and Arsenal to battle it out for Samuel Umtiti
According to Daily Star, Manchester United and Arsenal could be set to make a move for Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti this summer.
The Catalans have dug themselves into a pit after a number of years of poor investment. They cannot register new signings like Sergio Aguero due to exceeding La Liga’s salary limit and are desperate to offload players such as Umtiti.
The player for his part is not keen to rescind his contract. This has forced Barcelona to either look to sell the player or send him out on loan this summer. Doing so could save them around £17million, a small fortune considering their troubles.
United and Arsenal were both linked with Umtiti in the past. the English duo has now been backed to make a fresh approach to land their man. With young talents such as Ronald Araujo, Oscar Mingueza and Eric Garcia coming through, Barcelona will only be happy to part ways with Umtiti.
The Frenchman has made just 132 appearances for the Catalans in his five years at the club. During this time, he also missed a distressing 83 games due to injury. Umtiti made just 16 appearances last season, of which just eight came as starts. (h/t Transfermarkt)
Having secured Jadon Sancho, United have now turned their attention to signing a centre-back to pair Harry Maguire. The club has been heavily linked with a move for the comparatively expensive Raphael Varane.
While Varane is a costlier option, he is also a more reliable one. The 28-year-old is at the top of his game and had no serious injury issues to contend with. Umtiti’s stock has fallen in recent years and he looks a pale shadow of the player he is supposed to be. Missing out on him will not lead to many tears at Old Trafford.
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Umtiti featured prominently during his first couple of seasons at Camp Nou, playing a key role in the Catalan giants’ triumphant 2017-18 La Liga campaign. Unfortunately, it has been downhill since.
