ORne of the options that Barcelona were considering to lighten the salary mass of the first team is the departure of Umtiti. It is not new. The club has been trying for a long time to place the French because of the high token that he perceives and because his knee does not quite give guarantees that he is fully healed. Umtiti does not count for Koeman and the technician already said in the press conference last Friday that if he stayed it would be very difficult to play.
Against this background and after the conversations that his agent had with the club a couple of months ago, everything indicated that this summer the defender would leave Barcelona. However, right now the most probable thing is that Umtiti will continue in the Barcelona team one more season at least. The club has spent months looking for a destination for him and has presented several proposals for him to leave. Umtiti has not accepted. The French does not want to go to any team and at this moment his idea is to continue at the Camp Nou
Umtiti believes that it can be useful to the team. Despite not counting for Koeman, the Frenchman has behaved like a true professional. During the summer he has worked very hard in the gym to tune up that knee that has given him so many headaches in recent months. According to his surroundings, the improvement is evident. On a physical level he has also worked hard with very good results.
For this reason, he asked to be given an opportunity to show that he is in good physical condition. However, in the two official matches that the club has played the player has not been called up. Koeman considers that Piqu, Eric Garca, Araujo and Lenglet are ahead of him. Despite this, and given the refusal to leave, it is clear that Umtiti continues to have confidence in him.
The salary problem is important. Umtiti earns between 8 and 9 million net per season. A very high figure for the few minutes he is playing. The sports management of the club he considered the possibility of unilaterally terminating the contract, but that is something unfeasible at the legal level that could have serious consequences for the club. What Barcelona did is ask the footballer by letter if he would be willing to receive the letter of freedom. Umtiti rejected the proposal because that would mean giving up a two-year contract.
If he finally stays at Barcelona, the salary will have to be reduced considerably. The club needs to keep lowering the wage bill. For that, the captains are reducing their salary and in the next few days the departure of Pjanic will be confirmed, which will already be a relief for the club. And then it’s up to other players like Umtiti.