Manchester City Transfer Rumors 2018: Barcelona Centre-Back Samuel Umtiti Targeted by the Club
It would appear that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola might be plotting a January raid on one of his former clubs.
According to French news outlet L'Équipe, Barcelona centre-back Samuel Umtiti has had talks with City officials recently over a potential switch to the blue side of Manchester. The report says the club is willing to activate Umtiti's €60 million (around £53 million) release clause, but the French footballer is asking for more time to decide on his future. It should be noted that he didn't reject the offer.
City are simply loaded at every position right now, including centre-back (if Vincent Kompany stays healthy), but adding a quality defender like Umtiti makes a lot of sense.
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Umtiti is currently dealing with a hamstring injury in his right leg, but he has featured prominently for Barça this season. He has even dislodged Javier Mascherano from the starting XI and force the veteran Argentine footballer to leave Camp Nou for China last month.
With Umtiti on board, City can utilize the 3–5–2 formation more often with the French centre-back lining up alongside John Stones and Nicolás Otamendi in the three-man backline.
However, Barcelona are expected to do everything they can to hold on to Umtiti and manager Ernesto Valverde don't seem to be worried about the possibility of seeing him leave in the middle of the season.
"I don't have to worry about what other clubs could do," Valverde said, via Sport.
"That's how the legislation is here, each player has their price. When they sign their contracts, those release clauses can seem really high. Then, two or three years later, it doesn't seem that much," he added.
"But we're really happy with Umtiti and we think that he's happy in Barcelona and hope that he'll be here for a long time. These clauses exist but for them to be taken advantage of the player has to want to leave, too," he continued.
