Man Utd ready to ‘make a significant effort’ to sign Barca defender

Joe Williams
Samuel Umtiti Barcelona

Manchester United will try and sign Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti, according to reports in Spain.

The France international has only appeared in 11 La Liga matches this season and a further five in all competitions – but he did play a full 90 minutes in their recent loss to Real Madrid.

Man Utd have been linked with signing a new centre-back for a long while now with the likes of Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly.

And now Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness) claims that Man Utd want to sign Umtiti, who has a €500m release clause in his current contract at the Camp Nou.

Manchester City reportedly identified Umtiti as a target over the January transfer window with Clement Lenglet emerging as Barca’s first-choice partner for Gerard Pique this season.

And now Sport explain that ‘it seems Manchester United are the club willing to make a significant effort to sign him’ with Barcelona looking to raise €130m in sales in the next window.