Arsenal are reportedly interested in Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti.
With Laurent Koscielny’s future hanging in balance the North London side wants to bring in a suitable replacement for the French man. Koscielny has one year left on his current contract and the club is not keen to extend it beyond the existing deal.
The defender is expected to leave in the summer and Umtiti is being seen as a possible incoming to the club. Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has mostly preferred Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet in the heart of the Catalan defence and Umtiti has fallen in the pecking order.
Umtiti is valued at around £53m and both manager Unai Emery and Arsenal football director Raul Sanllehi are an avid admirer of the defender. The 25 year old committed his long term future to the club last summer as he put pen to paper to a new five year contract.
But given the current scenario, he will be allowed to leave the Nou Campin the summer. The Catalans are also interested in Ajax sensation Matthijs de Ligt which could further hurt his game time so a move to the Premier League side would make sense for the French international.
