Lyon and France CB. It seems close to being a done deal for £24.6m. Aulas doesn't seem to be quite as brutal to negotiate with as he used to be judging by the fairly typical fee for an emerging CB talent. Is he any good?
Samuel Umtiti to Barcelona
- Thread starter Pat_Mustard
- Start date
Left Footed, can also play LB, good pace, good in the air, comfortable on the ball.
Seems highly rated and very talented by all accounts. I, personally, seen near enough of him. Interesting where he'll fit in and play. Next to pique or mascherano or even at lb?
On the Aulas bit, somehow I think if it was any other club sniffing about, especially an English club, he'd have taken them for a few extra mil quid yet. Barca always seem to pay decent amounts for players, because they're desperate to join. But that's probably just my perception. So I could be totally wrong on this one!
Sounds like it's all but a done deal. I don't agree that he's fast, not one of his best attributes anyway.
Positionally, I think he's terrific. Extremely mature in defense for a player of his age & experience - plays like someone much older in terms of decision-making. He'll need to adapt, especially with the sort of defensive line the team plays under Lucho as he will need to play the ball out of the back more than he has in the past. Left footed and an excellent defender with maturity - success at CB, finally!
More hits than misses, hopefully Umtiti follows in the footsteps of prior Lyonnais talents to arrive
THE 15 CENTRAL DEFENDERS SIGNED BY BARÇA FOR 221.75 MILLION EUROS (2001-2016)
Positionally, I think he's terrific. Extremely mature in defense for a player of his age & experience - plays like someone much older in terms of decision-making. He'll need to adapt, especially with the sort of defensive line the team plays under Lucho as he will need to play the ball out of the back more than he has in the past. Left footed and an excellent defender with maturity - success at CB, finally!
More hits than misses, hopefully Umtiti follows in the footsteps of prior Lyonnais talents to arrive
THE 15 CENTRAL DEFENDERS SIGNED BY BARÇA FOR 221.75 MILLION EUROS (2001-2016)
- 2001/02: Patrik Andersson (Bayern, 8 million) y Philippe Christanval (Mónaco, 17 million)
- 2003/04: Rafa Márquez (Mónaco, 5.25 million)
- 2004/05: Edmílson (Ol. Lyon 8 million)
- 2006/07: Lilian Thuram (Juventus, 5 million
- 2007/08: Eric Abidal (Ol Lyon, 15 million) y Gabriel Milito (R. Zaragoza, 20 million)
- 2008/09: Martín Cáceres (Villarreal, 16.5 million), Henrique (Desportivo Brasil, 8 million) y Gerard Piqué (Manchester United, 5 million)
- 2009/10: Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Shakhtar Donetsk, 25 million) y Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, 20 million)
- 2014/15: Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia, 20 million) y Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal, 19 million)
- 2016/17: Umtiti (Ol. Lyon, 30 million)
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What a move for the lad. Has been rated as one of the best CB talents for a while now and at the end of every summer, I used to wonder why he's still at Lyon. He waited and got the big one.
Seems to be gutted since LVG's sacked. Would have taken us to the cleaner with left footed ball playing CB.
Zambrotta was never a central defender. He was a full back but signed initially as a winger I believe. Also Mascherano was originally signed as a CM before being moved back. Wasn't Thuram used as a RB and Marquez in Midfield in his early Barca career?
Is this the lad that scored an absolute better against Spurs in the Europa a few years back??
FM legend for me who couldn't quite break into my first team. Never seen him play in real life, what is his style of play?
Yeah, I added Zambrotta but was thinking of all the defenders signed in general. But he came in as a fullback, not a winger. Mascherano was never intended to play in the midfield.
Bartomeu has had a several hour pressy today, confirmed Umtiti signing - says it's 25 million + incentives
This guy will become one of the best CB in the world, guaranteed. He has everything in his locker. Wish we went for him. Literally cannot believe he is not in the French squad. Then again, Deschamps is an absolute melt of a manager.
I don't rate him simply because Barca are buying him. They're quite shit when it comes to CBs not from their own ranks.
Sorry mate. I meant 'team'. He's twice the player Rami is.He will most likely start at CB vs Iceland with Rami suspended.
Isn't Pique one of yours?
Lyon confirm it.
To be fair, it does look like it took Sakho's drugs ban, Mangala's awful form and Rami's suspension for him to even get in the team.
He wasn't in the french team because the defense was Varane-Koscielny. I don't like Sakho but he has always played well with France and Mangala was a bench warmer. Rami isn't rated by Deschamps but he got selected because he has experience and he can play on the right of the defense which allow Koscielny to play on the left.
I don't think it matters if he's good or not. Barcelona will make it work. Their network is that extreme.
My impression of him (YouTube whatever it's worth) is he is better than Bailly, I wish we could have got him. All the best to Bailly though.
Glad we got the deal done earlier, prices would have gone up by now!
He was a beast yesterday, 2nd best player on the field.
Varane, laporte, Umtitti, zouma... France are going to have a solid centreback pairing for years to come whoever they go with
Never heard of him before the Euros, what a player he is going to be!
Looks like he has all the attributes needed. Smart signing by Barca