After months of trying to get rid of him so they could recruit Ferran Torres, Samuel Umtiti has signed a new contract with Barcelona.
Barca has been desperate to cut their pay throughout the season, as their financial woes have wreaked havoc on the entire squad.
In order for summer additions like Memphis Depay to be registered for La Liga, Gerard Pique had to cut his earnings in the summer.
The club wanted to get rid of centre back Umtiti, and Ronald Koeman was even accused of deliberately getting him booed by having him warm up on the sidelines.
After all of that, the France defender has now signed a new contract at the Nou Camp, which will keep him at the club until 2026 while lowering his earnings for the following 18 months.
The deal, combined with Philippe Coutinho’s loan move to Aston Villa for the remainder of the season, allows new acquisition Ferran Torres to be registered.
Torres signed a contract with Barcelona at the start of the month, but due to the pay cap, he was unable to register.
Barca confirmed the news in a statement on their website, saying,
“FC Barcelona and first team player Samuel Umtiti have reached an agreement to extend the latter’s contract until 30 June 2026.
“The French defender is reducing a part of the salary that he was due to receive in the year and a half remaining on his contract.
“This contract extension operation does not entail any greater financial commitments for FC Barcelona with regard to the player.
“FC Barcelona wishes to publicly express its gratitude to Samuel Umtiti for his willingness and the affection that he has demonstrated towards the club.
“Through this contract extension, FC Barcelona will be able to increase its ‘financial fair play’ quota and thus register Ferran Torres with the Spanish Professional Football League.”
Due to the fact that he was not playing for Xavi’s team, Umtiti’s value had dropped from £63 million to £1.8 million.
It remains to be seen whether or not this new contract means he’ll finally get some playing time.
OJB SPORT 