Barcelona agree deal to sign Lyon’s Samuel Umtiti for £24.6m

• Defender is in line to start for France against Iceland on Sunday
• ‘Samuel has an exclusive agreement for him to join Barcelona’

Samuel Umtiti looks set to join Barcelona from Lyon after the French club’s president confirmed he has agreed a deal for the defender to move to La Liga.

The 22-year-old, who is expected to replace the suspended Adil Rami when France face Iceland in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 on Sunday, has been tracked by Luis Enrique’s side for some time after they were frustrated in their attempts to sign Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos.

Negotiations between the two clubs have been ongoing for some time and Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has confirmed reports that a fee of €30m (£24.6m) has been agreed.

“We anticipate the eventual departure of Umtiti. Samuel has an exclusive agreement for him to join Barcelona,” he told RMC Sport.

“We made a promise that if he could play for the club of his heart, he would leave. It’s part of the commitment which we have made, as was done for Karim Benzema when he went to Real Madrid. Right now, Samuel is with Les Bleus and is focused on the Euros and the fact that he can play Sunday against Iceland. If the three parties agree, it is possible that he will leave us.”

Contributor

Guardian sport

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Manchester United agree £15.7m deal for Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia
Manchester United have a €17m (£15.7m) deal in place to sign Feyenoord’s left-back Tyrell Malacia after hijacking Lyon’s attempt to buy the 22-year-old

Fabrizio Romano

28, Jun, 2022 @4:00 PM

Article image
Tottenham agree club record £55m fee for Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele
Mauricio Pochettino has made Tanguy Ndombele, the Lyon midfielder, his top summer target and is close to sealing the deal on the France international

David Hytner

30, Jun, 2019 @8:04 PM

Article image
Football transfer rumours: Chelsea and Barcelona battle for Samuel Umtiti?
Unai Emery to PSG? | Oleksandr Zinchenko to Manchester City? | Sofiane Feghouli to West Ham?

Paul Doyle

14, Jun, 2016 @7:41 AM

Article image
Barcelona expect Neymar to sign five-year deal ‘in next few days’
Josep Maria Bartomeu, the Barcelona president, is confident that Neymar will sign a contract extension to stay at Camp Nou despite interest from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain in the Brazil forward

Guardian sport

30, Jun, 2016 @3:31 PM

Article image
Barcelona agree five-year Messi deal and in talks to swap Griezmann for Saúl
Barcelona are close to announcing that Lionel Messi has signed a contract to 2026 and are in advanced talks over swapping Antoine Griezmann for Atlético Madrid’s Saúl

Fabrizio Romano

14, Jul, 2021 @4:37 PM

Article image
Chelsea target Lyon’s Moussa Dembélé to boost Lampard’s attacking options
Frank Lampard wants to strengthen his attack by signing Moussa Dembele and Chelsea are considering whether to test Lyon’s determination not to sell the striker this month

Jacob Steinberg

08, Jan, 2020 @10:14 PM

Article image
Arsenal ‘remain in market’ after being linked with Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal ‘remain in the market’ for further additions to their squad amid rumours that Alexandre Lacazette has requested to leave Lyon this summer

Ed Aarons

22, Jul, 2016 @2:14 PM

Article image
From Kasper Dolberg to Naby Keïta – who are the most in-demand players for the summer?
It is not yet April but, with clubs already working hard on securing their main transfer targets for the summer, we look at some of the players who are likely to move when the window opens

Ed Aarons and Fabrizio Romano

27, Mar, 2017 @1:28 PM

Article image
Transfer roundup: Forest face Aurier decision, Chelsea eye Wilfried Zaha
Nottingham Forest must choose between two right-backs, Serge Aurier or Djibril Sidibé, while Chelsea are hoping to sign either Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or the Crystal Palace forward

Ed Aarons and Fabrizio Romano

28, Aug, 2022 @4:20 PM

Article image
Transfer roundup: Spurs make £55m bid for Lyon’s Ndombélé, West Ham ponder Rondón
Tottenham have made a club record £55m bid for the Lyon midfielder, Tanguy Ndombélé

David Hytner, Fabrizio Romano, Andy Hunter and Jacob Steinberg

25, Jun, 2019 @10:24 PM