Lyon preparing to make move to bring Samuel Umtiti back from Barcelona | OneFootball

Lyon are preparing to begin talks with Barcelona to bring Samuel Umtiti back to France according to Ekrem Konur. The Frenchman is surplus to requirements at Camp Nou and has finally accepted that the time has come for him to depart for pastures new.

Umtiti, 28, was born in Cameroon but came through Lyon’s youth system, joining them at the age of nine and making his first team debut ten years later. He spent four seasons in the Ligue 1 club’s first team, accumulating 169 appearances, before earning a move to Barcelona in summer 2016. He was touted as one of the finest centre-backs in Europe.

Umtiti enjoyed a strong start to his Barcelona career and was part of the French national team that lifted the World Cup in Russia back in 2018. But that tournament was his high-water mark. Since then his Barcelona career has been blighted by injures – he’s made just 132 appearances for the Catalan club in the six years he’s spent at Camp Nou.