It is being reported in the media today that Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti has told his teammates that he will not stay with the club if he does not get more regular first team football.
It is no secret that we are interested in the 25-year-old and the Spanish champions are apparently open to allowing the centre-back to leave, especially as they are keen on bringing in another defender in Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt this summer.
It has also been reported that Barca is looking to sell players to raise funds for their own acquisition which means that they may well be open to selling the France World cup winner for less than the touted valuation of £77 Million.
So, the scene is set for Umtiti to leave the Nou Camp in the summer but what are the chances that we will succeed in landing a player said to be one of Unai Emery’s main targets?
I would say good, yes, he would be expensive but I am sure he will be available for less than £77 Million and anything nearer £50 Million would definitely put us in the frame, especially if we do qualify for the Champions League next season.
Man Utd looks like being our main competitors, however, I am not sure they have Umtiti as a priority and if they fail to finish top four, which is looking likely in my opinion, then they would not be as attractive an option as what we would be.
The bottom line for me is that this one is looking like it may just happen.
I don’t think Umtiti would come if Mustafi doesn’t leave
I also hope Arsenal would not spend 50+ M for a small CB, despite Umtiti was a world class CB that is excellent in building the attack from the back
Better spend less money on Zouma, Keane or Diop. They are good in the air and have plenty of EPL experience
….Umtiti with Zouma, diop in the same sentence… common bro??
….Set-pieces haven’t been our problem at all season so a big, towering centre back isn’t the issue here. Can he play well from the back? Will he be calm when with the ball and more importantly, can he actually defend? If yes, then I see no reason why we shouldn’t go all out for Umtiti except for his knee problems. But please, Umtiti and Zouma should never be put in the same sentence.
Dead. Right umtiti is much better than zouma who has been loaned to stoke now everton,the reaon we conceded so many headers last season was because we were giving cheap corners mainly towards the end if the game because we were panicking and that zone marking also we stopped giving stuoid free kicks in dangerous aera ie near our own boc so your argurment is no longer valid,how do you think we do with the french team,fir dangeroysr free kickdt & corners we use pobga,girioud….sinple and every player knows who to mark!
@James & Tissiam, I think you guys are missing the point. Smaller central defenders aren’t very useful in FIFA19 although they’re a lot better than they used to be. Zouma is taller therefore better. I don’t think gotanidea was referring to real life football
Does no one see Kos and Sokratis being the main pairing next season with Holding slotting in for Kos when fit?
Yea defo
My thinking as well ,but would assays welcome a quality edition.
If not then if kos can stay fit for another season I can’t see why he can’t keep up his form which before he got injured was top quality again .
Did read that he wants to go home though to play one season ,not sure if there’s any truth in it ,but if it was I wouldn’t begrudge him that and I’m sure most fans would feel the same .
I would love for Holding to step up and then be able to call on Kos for his experience and seeing out games.
Agree it would be good to have an addition that would challenge for a starting spot or grow into the first team to continue improving the squad, which is what I said in a post a few weeks ago that I believe Emery is and can build a squad that will grow together and be bigger than the sum of its parts.
No I do not. By next season Kos will be 34 and past his best, as he already is and he is already injury prone, as most CB’s of his age are too. I see the likely mainpairing as Holding and Mavropanos and would be quite surprised if Kos was still first choice. I predict that Kos will not be fit much longer than this season and is already showing distinct signs of physical regression.
I see Sokratis as back up, at best too, by next season and do not share the general hype over what I see as a determined and fierce defender but too short, not quick and prone to wrestling. That can NEVER be our future IF we are intent to really title challenge. Not being rubbish does not mean you are good ENOUGH!
He’ll cost way too much for us, and as I have already said, we need a much taller, imposing CB. Holding is still out with a long-term injury, Bellerin also. So is it wise to bring another defender in with injury problems?
Why Umtiti when Manolas has a reported release fee of around 36 mil euros?
We could get around £20 mil for Mustafi and that means we only need to find around £12 million (depending on conversion rate) which I feel is very realistic. I honestly do think that we could get a bit more than £20 million for Mustafi if we do well in the transfer market.
Also, the guy plays on the right of the CBs, we have Kos, Holding and Mavrop who play better on the left side.
Right CB: Kos, Holding and Mavrop
Left CB: Manolas, Sokratis and Chambers.
That will be good for next season, the season after we could look to sell Sokratis for some return and allow Kos to retire, still leaving us with 2 CBs for each role… and 12 months more development under Emery.
I reckon he’ll be somewhere around the 40m mark, could be over but more likely under it if his injury is a concern. It means less time at the top of his game if he’s gonna have recurring injury problems. I don’t know if it’s true that he keeps getting the same injury, I thought it was more that he had a long spell out and it was enough time for someone else to play themselves into a starting birth. Emery and our medical team will make the right choice, if there is any doubts on him then they wont spend the bulk of our transfer pot on an unreliable CB. There is usually a lot of options when looking for a CB.
People might be right about his height. I typed in 1.82m in feet, and the answer said that he’s not even five foot ten, it said: five nine and a bit. That can’t be right can it, surely he’s taller than that. If this is the case then I’d probably rethink my belief on Raul leaning on his old friendships to put us in the driving seat.