Barcelona signed Samuel Umtiti from Lyon in 2016 for a transfer fee of around €25 million and the defender arrived at Camp Nou with a lot of promise.
But the Frenchman has not quite been able to live up to that promise and this past season he has hit a real low under Ernesto Valverde.
During the 2018-19 season, Valverde has often for Lenglet and Pigue as his first choice central defensive pairing which means Samuel Umtiti has managed to play in just 14 La Liga games.
First team chances have been really hard to come by and with the kind of performances, Pique and Lenglet had put in, this trend is expected to continue next season too.
And this is why multiple reports have claimed that Samuel Umtiti might be on his way out of the club during the summer.
Arsenal have been heavily linked with the out-of-favour defender as Emery plans to reshuffle his defensive line for the upcoming season.
The Gunners though aren’t the only club interested in signing the centre-back as Juventus too are in the mix and might launch a bid for him in the upcoming months.
But now Samuel Umtiti has come out to make it clear that he is not planning to leave Barcelona and will remain at Camp Nou next season.
“I have a contract and I’m happy at Barcelona,” said Umtiti.
“I had a difficult season, but I don’t want to go to other clubs. Next season I’ll be at Barça.”
This statement will surely be a setback for Unai Emery but we do not believe that it will derail his plans too much.
Reports have suggested that Arsenal have already made a bid for Sampdoria defender Joachim Anderson and the Serie A side are willing to part ways with him for the right transfer price.
