Samuel Umtiti has already made up his mind about his future, according to "Sport". After his loan stint with Lecce, the French center-back will end his contract with Barcelona and begin looking for a new team.
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Barcelona is still struggling with the same financial issues that made life so challenging for them last summer. The Catalan behemoths are not completely ruling out the prospect of offloading players they do not depend on in order to add new ones.
Umtiti is one of those whose time in Barcelona is running out. According to "Sport," the French defender has decided to cancel his relationship with the "Cules" and will be without a team when his loan with Lecce expires.
Umtiti says he opted for Lecce because he needed some peace and quiet and insists there were other options.
“After the Barcelona experience I needed peace and quiet,” he said.
“Lecce is the best solution because it is also an ideal city to live in; here are the ideal conditions to start again. During the summer there were other contacts, but today I feel that I can confirm this choice.
“I arrived in Lecce with the mentality of facing different challenges every day. In Barcelona I had a lot, just as I had the opportunity to play with great champions.
“Unfortunately, some physical problems forced me to start from scratch. It’s not easy to come back, but I chose to rewrite my career with Lecce and the first step is to try to save ourselves.”
Umtiti also spoke about his debut and how much he loved getting back out on the pitch and playing competitively again.
“I felt wonderful emotions, I’m proud of the game I played... after so many months in which I worked hard to get back up to par with my teammates,” he added.
“At this time in my life it is important to play again, to feel valued and important in this team and to achieve my goal with Lecce. World Cup? With the national team I have written beautiful pages of my career, but for now I only think at Lecce and do well in this shirt.”
Source | Marca
The center-back, who is gradually settling into the squad's rhythm, now wants to leave for good and join a different team. In the past two seasons, the player has only made six appearances.