Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti continues to impress within Italy. Currently, on loan from the Catalans, he has thus far played his football this season for Serie A side Lecce, a side where he has cemented himself as one of the starters and first names on the side’s team sheets.
Courtesy of his consistency for Lecce, the Italian side are currently trying to materialize a permanent move for the French defender or alternatively extend the duration of his stay be it through an extension of his current loan deal with the club.
Following a massively detrimental series of knee complications, Samuel Umtiti had been out of favor within the defensive hierarchy of FC Barcelona and found himself more often than not warming the benches at the Spanish club. But the move to Italy has been substantially beneficial to the defender’s career, as Lecce themselves now wish to keep him there and reports from Mundo Deportivo suggest the player would prefer to stay at the Italian club for the near foreseeable future.
Pantaleo Corvino, sports director of Lecce. had the following to say regarding Lecce’s intentions with the FC Barcelona defender:
“When you arrive in Serie A in your first year you have to try to create the right mix, a cocktail of experience and youth. For a coach, it is a very important aspect and the arrival of Umtiti responds to this need. In the Umtiti operation, we achieved it and we hope that in the future there may be others. Let’s see if we have the go-ahead from Barça and the player… If we have the go-ahead from both, that can be explored. In summer, Umtiti already had the will to choose Lecce.”
Should the player choose to stay at Lecce, it would be an understandable decision, given that he himself is aware that he may not receive neither much importance nor minutes should he return to the Catalan club. How this saga develops is currently yet to be seen in accordance with what FC Barcelona themselves deem fit.