The Catalan press openly worrying about Samuel Umtiti’s €60m buyout clause, in the wake of Vigil van Dijk moving to Liverpool for more, inevitably led the English media to link Premier league clubs.
Manchester City have been the chosen ones and that link has made it’s way back to Spain and has been covered a few times around the Catalan media already.
Mundo Deportivo pick it up and don’t sound too confident for Manchester City’s chances. It’s explained that Umtiti had always wanted to play for Barcelona anyway, so he’s currently at the club he very much wants to represent.
The Frenchman is ‘happy’ with his situation and a transfer ‘seems unthinkable’. He is, however, aware he probably deserves a new contract, but there’s no rush to pressure Barcelona into providing one.
Given all of this, the only way the situation really has a chance of changing is Umtiti being persuaded that Manchester City is a better club for him than Barcelona.Pep Guardiola would have to get to work with one of his magic telephone calls, and sell City to the defender.
Is Guardiola likely to do that against Barcelona? Probably not, so this one is pretty much dead before it’s really started.
