Manchester United put on alert as Barcelona place Samuel Umtiti on the transfer market

Barcelona are reportedly ready to sell defender Samuel Umtiti and Manchester United are said to be preparing an offer.

Barcelona are thought to be embarking on a mission to raise funds to help with their planned summer outlay and some big-name players face the axe.

It's reported that Las Blaugranas are aiming to make up to €130m in player sales and Samuel Umtiti will account for a piece of that target.

The French defender has struggled with fitness for large parts of his career at the Camp Nou and as a result, has struggled to nail down a starting place.

This season, Umtiti has had a somewhat better run of games and even featured in Barcelona's 2-0 defeat to rivals Real Madrid at the start of March.

The Catalan giants supposedly see this as the perfect time to sell Umtiti - with his stock relatively stable.

According to Sport, Manchester United are very interested in the 26-year-old and could be willing to make an offer.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is said to be on the hunt for a long-term partner for Harry Maguire at the base of his defence.

Although, Eric Bailly's return to fitness has sparked some excitement amongst United fans and the Ivorian could have a big part to play yet.

Quique Setien has had to concede to the higher powers at Barcelona and back the sale of Umtiti, despite taking a liking to the player.

Umtiti's current contract ties him to the club until 2023, which means the defender won't come very cheap.

Barcelona signed Umtiti from Lyon in 2016 for €25m, and he has a current release clause of €500m.

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