The story that won’t go away is that of Samuel Umtiti to Manchester United, and the defender, in an interview with Canal+ in France on Sunday, didn’t exactly help the rumours by revealing that quite a few clubs were after his services.
Of course, he cushioned the blow by making it clear that he was very happy in Barcelona and wasn’t actively looking for a transfer, but, you know, anything can happen in football.
Well, that, combined with the reports in Spain from last week about Sport reporting José Mourinho’s personal phone calls and AS claiming there are worries about his lack of concentration and his physical condition, has led to L’Equipe trying to clear things up.
They spoke to someone close to the alleged Manchester United target, who said: “Sam doesn’t read the papers, but everyone is asking him questions about it, so he’s very aware of it. He wanted to clarify things once and for all by talking about it, but all he’s interested in is the pitch”.
Ernesto Valverde, the France defender’s manager at Barcelona, made his desire to the club clear, that he wants his defender to stay, but, with a €60m release clause in the 24-year-old’s contract, that might not be up to anyone but the player himself.
Considering the La Liga leaders tend to wait until the half way point of a player’s contract before opening renewal talks, there normally wouldn’t be a rush to do so until midway through next season, but this is different.
So far, however, Umtiti hasn’t heard anything from them.
