Top French publication, L’Equipe have revealed that Manchester City have sat down with Samuel Umtiti’s representative to express their desire to take him to the Etihad.

The Frenchman is only in his second season at the Camp Nou but has already become a regular for Barcelona.

Umtiti’s current buy-out clause is only 60 million euros which Man City have no problem activating as they know Barcelona are not interested in selling him.

Speaking about the recent reports about interest in Umtiti from Pep Guardiola’s team, Ernesto Valverde said he isn’t worried because the defender was happy at Barcelona.


“I don’t have to worry about what other clubs could do,” Valverde said.

“Umtiti is a great player and I hope we can continue to enjoy him here for many more years.”

And on the relatively low buyout clause of the Frenchman, he said: “That’s how the legislation is here, each player has their price.”

“When they sign their contracts, those release clauses can seem really high. Then, two or three years later, it doesn’t seem that much.”

“But we’re really happy with Umtiti and we think that he’s happy in Barcelona and hope that he’ll be here for a long time.”


“These clauses exist but for them to be taken advantage of the player has to want to leave, too.”