It’s a strange time for Barcelona’s French defender Samuel Umtiti. While many of his friends are playing in the Euro 2020 or Copa America, he’s fighting a battle of his own – a battle for the future.With a hellish season behind him, he’s picking up the pieces and training to be ready when the new La Liga season comes. However, not all is clear.The Catalan club wants to loan Umtiti out to regain match fitness while playing first-team football away from Blaugrana. But he’d like to stay.📰 [L’Equipe] | Samuel Umtiti has been training hard with the view of convincing Barça to keep him, while the Catalan club are considering loaning him during the summer transfer window pic.twitter.com/eJI77pymsu— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) June 30, 2021 The 27-year-old former Olympique Lyonnais centre-back was a member of the French national team that won the World Cup in 2018. Three years later, things are a lot different: Les Bleus have just been knocked out of the European Championship – and Umtiti hasn’t even been included in the squad.The first half of last season was a disaster for Samuel as he suffered from a recurring knee problem. To top it off, he’s also had to sit out a month with Covid-19 and was has completely lost his place in Ronald Koeman’s side. But the second half of the campaign offered hope that the defender might return to his former level.Forgotten man Umtiti starring for Barca againAfter a brief holiday in Dubai, Umtiti has returned to Barcelona and started with fitness work ahead of the new campaign. Hard work has made him optimistic about his chances of finding his way back into Barca’s defence despite the recent arrivals of defenders Eric Garcia from Manchester City and Emerson Royal from Real Betis.Recent talk of a loan back to his formative club Lyon or Olympique de Marseille hasn’t gone away, but neither of those teams would be Umtiti’s desired destinations. At his age, he’s eager to prove his class at the club that paid $27.5 million for him five years ago.#Lequipe |🔹Umtiti doesn’t want to leave.🔸Despite Lyon and Marseille’s interest in the player, Umtiti does not want to leave Barça.🔹the player’s insistence on staying created tension within the administration, and it may lead to unilateral termination of the contract. pic.twitter.com/dMWkad9KSO— infosfcb (@infosfcb) June 29, 2021 Barcelona are still paying Umtiti around $8 million per year and cannot afford to waste that much money on a player that isn’t contributing to the club. Some decisions will have to be made in the club’s administration and also by the coaching and medical staff.It’s not all in Samuel’s hands, but he’s making sure that he does everything he can to be a Barca player still next season.
