Barcelona want to find a new place for Samuel Umtiti but the midfielder wants to receive the full salary gap before leaving.
Mundo Deportivo said Barca convinced Umtiti to leave on a free form this summer after the French midfielder returned from Lecce. However, Umtiti refused and wanted to complete his contract with Barca until June 2026
The aforementioned source said Barca could not afford to pay the salaries owed to Umtiti . The French midfielder receives nearly 100,000 euros a week at Barca, according to Salary Sport. The Camp Nou team still owes Umtiti 1.5 years’ salary in the old contract (valid until June 2023).
In January 2022, Umtiti accepted a 10% salary reduction when extending with Barca until June 2026. The former Lyon midfielder agreed to spread the salary that the Catalan club owes him to pay gradually until the end of the 2025/26 season.
If you choose to liquidate the contract with Umtiti, Barca will lose additional compensation for the remaining 3 years of the contract.
Umtiti is not the only case that has been owed a salary by Barca. Frenkie de Jong or Martin Braithwaite are other examples.
In August 2022, Braithwaite also refused to leave Barca. He announced that he would stay until his contract expires (June 2024). A month later, the Camp Nou team decided to pay the contract of the Danish striker.
After completing the recruitment of Ilkay Gundogan from Man City last week , Barca is still struggling to create a gap in the salary fund to serve the transfer plan. Many players could be liquidated this summer including De Jong, Franck Kessie, Ferran Torres or Clement Lenglet.
Mundo Deportivo also revealed the dire financial situation at Barca at the moment. When coach Xavi asked Barca leadership to increase salaries for assistants, the answer from the Camp Nou team was that the former Spaniard should use his salary increase after his 2022/23 season to offset this amount.