(Football news) Samuel Umtiti has been out of favor at FC Barcelona for around three and half seasons now. Despite that he has still managed to stay at the club. Reports have suggested that Barcelona have been trying to sell Umtiti for a while but there haven't been any offers that the player has been interested in.

On 10th January Barcelona extended Umtiti's contract until 2026. The reason they extended an out of favor player's contract was because of financial reasons. Due to financial fair play and La Liga wage cap rules, Barcelona struggled to register new signings at the start of the season. Gerard Pique took a massive pay cut to allow Barcelona to register Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia. When Barcelona signed Ferran Torres in January they initially couldn't register him.

Samuel Umtiti agreed to take a pay cut and extend his contract so that Torres can be registered. Now just over a week after the deal was made official Umtiti has suffered an injury on his right foot and has to undergo an operation. The contract extension would've been a good way for Barcelona to increase his transfer value and sell him in January itself or in the summer. Now the surgery will not only keep him out for around 3 months but will also make his sale more complicated.

Barcelona are still in the midst of financial crisis despite signing quite a few players and the infamous statement by president Joan Laporta where he said that Barcelona are back in the market to sign the best players in the world, hinting towards Erling Haaland. Barcelona will be in more trouble if Umtiti's injury troubles continue it will become almost impossible to sell him. Barcelona will be hoping that the Frenchman can get fit and be sold as soon as possible.
 

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