It’s only the start of June but Barcelona may have wrapped up their best bit of summer business by securing Samuel Umtiti’s future.
The defender has inked a new five-year deal at the Camp Nou, netted himself a pay rise and also has a shiny new €500m release clause to boot. A nice bit of business all round really.
Umtiti has become absolutely crucial to Barcelona, and there was a real fear he could leave earlier in the season when Manchester United were said to be sniffing around his previous €60m release clause.
His partnership with Gerard Pique, in front of the wall that is Marc-Andre ter Stegen, gives Barcelona a really solid foundation that is significantly weakened when Umtiti is not around.