Samuel Umtiti has an exit clause that was put into his contract when he renewed last year

 

• Barça can terminate the Frenchman's contract in 2023, even if he has a contract until 2026
• Work is being done anyway on an exit this month, although Barça will have to pay a good part of his wages

Last January, when Barça was working on the registration of Ferran Torres, the club's director of football, Mateu Alemany, had an imaginative idea. It was none other than to renew Samuel Umtiti's contract.

The French central defender had a contract until June 30, 2023. The club extended that commitment for three years, until June 30, 2026. In exchange, Umtiti forgave 10% of the salary and the rest of the salary was distributed over the four and a half years of his new contract.

At Barça, now that the legality of the renewals of Frenkie de Jong, Lenglet, Ter Stegen and Piqué made by the previous board of directors in October 2020 is being discussed, they want to make it clear that in no case is the renewal of Umtiti similar to the others, because the renewal didn't cost Barça.

At the same time the club ensured that it included a clause with the possibility of terminating the footballer's contract on June 30, 2023, when his previous contract ended. The player could also use this clause to leave for free and make his signing easier at a new club.

The club will have the option of triggering that clause on June 30th next year, but the intention is that the Frenchman, who only played 90 minutes last season, will leave this transfer window, as he has been ruled out by Xavi.

His departure is still complicated at the moment. The player is looking for a team, but he also needs to reach an agreement with Barça as they could end up paying a good part of Umtiti's wages for this season in case of an earlier termination of contract.

Most of Umtiti's wages have been amortized in Barca's financial statements.