Official: Barça & Umtiti agree to terminate defender's contract with club

The soap opera between Barcelona and Samuel Umtiti is over. After years of failed attempts to put an end to the contractual relationship between the two, they finally reached an agreement on Friday to terminate the French centre-back's deal with the Catalan side. 

The news has been confirmed by Barça themselves, who have admitted defeat in their attempt to bring in a small fee. The club's main objective was to get rid of the player's high salary, though, with his contract running until 30 June 2026, so it is a real boost to reduce the first team's wage bill.

Everything suggests that Umtiti could journey back to his origins and end up re-join Olympique Lyon, who are already in negotiations to sign him as a free agent. Italian media are also suggesting a possible move back to Serie A, where he has recovered much of his form this season and has been a key player for Lecce. 

He has played 25 games (2,116 minutes) for Lecce. From match day 15 to match day 38 he has played 90 minutes in every game and only missed two, one due to injury and the other due to yellow cards.

Barça said:

"FC Barcelona and defender Samuel Umtiti have reached an agreement to release the player from the contract binding him to the club until the end of the 2025/26 season.

"FC Barcelona wishes to express its gratitude to Umtiti and wishes him every fortune and success in the future.

"Umtiti has enjoyed an injury-free season in Italy, where he seems to have rediscovered his best level in every regard. After a stop-start final period at Barça, frutrated by a series of fitness issues, he has played 25 games for Lecce. 

"He came to Barcelona in 2016 from Olympique Lyon, where he had spent his whole career until then. In his finest years, he and Gerard Piqué formed a fabulous pairing in the middle of the blaugrana defence, and were both automatic starters.

"After becoming a world champion with France in 2018, injuries started to interrupt his wonderful progress. He was no longer such a regular feature on the field, and he eventually left for Italy to get more game time. 

"With two league titles and three cups, Samuel Umtiti is now severing ties completely with Barça, but will be taking away memories as fond as those that the club will have of him."