I want to stay Barcelona, only club can kick me out: Umtiti

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Bengaluru, May 29: Barcelona centre-back Samuel Umtiti has clarified that he has no intention to leave the La Liga club unless the club decides to release him. Premier League giants Manchester United have a special interest in a summer move for the 24-year-old French defender, but it now looks harder for The Red Devils to do the deal.

While Umtiti has a contract with the recent La Liga champions until 2021, it has a release clause of just €60 million (£52.5million). The Frenchman has recently claimed that he is enjoying life at the club and wants to renew his current contract with them.

In an interview with L'Equipe, Umtiti said, "What I wanted was the negotiation that I've already had with them and I've always been very clear about what I wanted.”

"I have been clear that I want to renew with Barcelona and I want to be here next season. I'm at a club that has allowed me to fulfil my dream of playing for them and want to stay.

"I'm in charge of my future so for me to go, the club would have to kick me out."

In June 2016, Umtiti joined the La Liga club from the French Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais for €25 million. Under Ernesto Valverde, Umtiti played a total of 40 matches in 2017/18 season where he helped Barcelona win the La Liga and Copa del Rey titles.

Umtiti is now away on international duty with France for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup which will be hosted by Russia from June 14 to July 15. In the international set up he will partner the 25-year-old Real Madrid centre-back Raphael Varane.

Though they haven’t played many games together, Umtiti believes that they can manage any situation.

Talking about his partnership with Varane in the national team, the Barcelona back said, “We know that our job will be very important. During the last meetings, we were able to get a run of matches together - whereas we rarely played together before that.

“It's about finding automatic reflexes in central defence because sometimes you don't have the time to talk to each other and to know how the other plays or perceives certain situations. You need games and dialogue.

“Raphael is someone who's very intelligent. He plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world. So I don't think we'll have any problems in finding a way of complementing each other.”