With Aymeric Laporte still out injured and the rest of their defensive options failing to impress, it’s widely believed Manchester City will be on the hunt for a central defender in January.
Injuries, coupled with the departure of Vincent Kompany in the summer, have left the Citizens short in that area, so much so that Fernandinho has filled in there for several months.
Finding a suitable player would not be easy, but one may be available in Barcelona in the shape of Samuel Umtiti.
The French defender is out of favour at the Nou Camp, having fallen behind Clément Lenglet in the pecking order.
As such he’s regularly been linked with a departure, and according to L’Equipe, he’s a player that Manchester City have their eye on.
The newspaper claims they are worried about the ‘physical fragility’ of the defender, who has suffered three knee injuries in the last year alone.
The tone of the article is very much that Manchester City are just watching the Barcelona man at present, and it seems he prefers to stay in Spain for the time being anyway.
That, though, hasn’t stopped Sport covering article and headlining it ‘Umtiti, with offers from the Premier League’ which is misleading as the French newspaper say nothing of the sort.
City’s interest is there, but there’s no suggestion they’ll make a move anytime soon, particularly if they’re concerned about his fitness.
