On Friday, Barcelona announced that Samuel Umtiti had left the club, having agreed a mutual termination of his contract. It brought to an end the French international defender’s seven-year spell at the club.
Umtiti had fallen out of favour at Barcelona over the last few years, and he spent the 2022-23 season on loan at Serie A side Lecce, who have expressed an interest in re-signing him this summer.
Barcelona were looking to move Umtiti on before the mutual agreement, as they look to improve their financial situation this summer. The move has seen them save €20m, as Umtiti’s contract was set to run until 2026.
The news is very good for Barcelona, whose efforts to sell players so far this summer has been very unsuccessful. Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres are two of the players that they have been hoping to move on, but both have been very unwilling to leave, which the latter eluded to.
Barcelona will hope Umtiti’s departure will kick-start their efforts this summer, although it appears that a number of players won;t be as keen to leave as the Frenchman was.
