Barcelona Lower Defender's Price To $32M Amid Interest From Manchester United, Arsenal: Report

FC Barcelona reportedly have reduced Samuel Umtiti’s transfer fee to $32 million amid interest from Premier League sides Manchester United and Arsenal.

Barcelona, which labeled the defender earlier at $56 million, are suffering from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and which is why they have decided to lower Umtiti’s fee. The Catalans have been planning to sell the Frenchman to clear funds for their top targets such as Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez and Neymar, who is currently contracted with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

It was earlier reported that Barcelona were going to offer Umtiti to Inter as a part of Martinez’s deal. However, they have not received any response from the Serie A side, while the defender has expressed his desire to play in the Premier League.

Umtiti would prefer Man Utd as the squad includes his France teammates, Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Matteo Guendouzi. While the English clubs are yet to approach Barcelona in regard to Umtiti’s transfer, the Sport has reported that given a chance, the defender would like to stay at Nou Camp.

The 26-year-old defender, who is currently recovering from a calf injury, hopes to return to action in time for Spanish soccer’s restart and have an important role under new coach Quique Setien. However, he has been injury-prone since his debut in 2016 and his foot and knee problems this season have not helped his case further because he has managed just nine starts in the ongoing 2019-20 season because of the injuries.

While Barcelona have been desperate to re-sign Neymar, the Brazilian’s agent has said that due to the financial crisis that has emerged due to the coronavirus, the forward will mostly stay put at PSG.

“I think Neymar will stay at PSG because the market is difficult. The economic world of football will change,” added Ribeiro in a recent interview.

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has said on several occasions that he wants Neymar back to Nou Camp. Even the Brazil playmaker wants to return to his old team as it was earlier disclosed that he refused a huge contract extension by PSG that also included an additional bonus of worth $107m.