It doesn’t matter if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears to have fixed the defensive problems at Manchester United of late, there will always be a centre-back linked with a move to Old Trafford.
Kalidou Koulibaly has been the latest regular, but he isn’t the only man they are allegedly looking at, as Sport in Spain reckon the Red Devils are also keen on Samuel Umtiti.
The flirting between the French defender and the Premier League club dates back some way, but the Catalan newspaper reckon this summer could be the one when an exit from the Nou Camp takes place.
Barcelona were reportedly already looking to get rid of the France international last summer, but his knee problems slowed everything down, and now that he’s back and playing under Quique Setién, they feel this year is the ideal time to cash in on him.
Sport state that even though the new Barcelona manager likes Umtiti, he will go along with their plans, as the La Liga side are looking to make €130m from sales in the summer, and they see the defender as a way of getting a large chunk of that.
They explain ‘it seems Manchester United are the club willing to make a significant effort to sign him’, and if such a move was agreed, the idea would be to sign another, younger and less expensive (salary wise) left-footed centre-back to replace him at the Nou Camp.
Umtiti currently has a €500m clause in his deal, but we all know a transfer would never come close to reaching those figures.
