Barcelona has found a solution. It has extended the contract of an unwanted stopper so it can sign Torres

Barcelona has been in a difficult situation lately. Due to the club’s poor financial situation, it has to take steps that would otherwise be beyond reason.

Samuel Umtiti transferred to Barcelona in 2016 from Lyon and had a great start to the engagement. He played two seasons in the Blaugranas jersey steadily and was one of the best players.

Moreover, in 2018, in a stopper duo with Real Madrid’s Varane, he helped France to the World Cup title and Barcelona didn’t hesitate to give Umtiti a proper fat contract, which made him one of the highest paid players at the club.

But since then, things have gone downhill for Umtiti. His performances began to take an incredible downward trend until he gradually became a laughing stock of the fans of other clubs. He played 14, 13 and 13 games in the last three seasons, becoming more of a backup stopper.

In the current season, he has made only one appearance. Piqué and youngsters García, Araujo and Mingueza are preferred. Barcelona have been wanting to get rid of Umtiti for three years, mainly because of his high salary and totally inadequate performances. However, the 28-year-old stopper refuses, contentedly collecting a high salary and watching games from the bench.

So instead of praying for Umtiti’s contract to expire and finally leave the club, Barcelona have extended the hardened stopper’s contract until 2026. Madness? Absolute, but the Catalans have no choice.

In fact, Umtiti has agreed to a pay cut in his new contract, currently receiving up to €15 million per year. This will free up space under the salary cap for Barcelona to finally register new signing Ferran Torres.

Barcelona themselves were not afraid to be honest about this move, making no secret of the fact that the signing of Ferran Torres was behind Umtiti’s contract extension.

This move is proof that Barcelona’s management was at a loss and proceeded to a truly last resort. After all, Coutinho’s departure didn’t help either and Ferran couldn’t be registered.

So the Barcelona management swallowed their pride and extended the contract of the unwanted player in order to register a new signing.

Source: Barcelona CF