Barcelona Transfer News: Samuel Umtiti Comments Amid Manchester United Rumours

Samuel Umtiti has handed Barcelona a boost amid ongoing rumours he could move to Manchester United in the summer by saying: "I love this club."

The defender played a key role in Barca's second goal—an own goal from Kostas Manolas—in their 4-1 UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg win at the Camp Nou on Wednesday and celebrated in front of the fans by grabbing the badge on his chest.

After the match, he commented on the celebration and on the rumours that have been swirling around him of late, per Sport: 

"The celebration was to say that I love this club. I just focus on playing, on getting 100 per cent out of myself and doing well at a club like Barca. 

"That's what matters to me. The rest of the stuff can come out in the press, whether it's true or false... I focus on football."

Umtiti, 24, has enjoyed a fantastic 2017-18 season in which he has established himself as one of the finest young centre-backs in Europe.

It is no surprise he is being targeted by other clubs, but the worrying thing for Barca is how low his release clause is.

According to Javier Giraldo in Sport, the France international is available for just €60 million (£52 million), and negotiations over a new contract—which would resolve the issue by significantly increasing his release clause—are not advancing.  

The player himself recently said his release clause is "low," per Canal Football Club (h/t Metro's Simon Rice). 

In the context of current transfer fees, he is quite right. Per Yahoo Sport UK's Andrew Gaffney, it is baffling why Umtiti's release clause was set so low in the first place:

A club such as United, who have spent millions on fees in the last few transfer windows, would not blink twice before snapping up a player of Umtiti's youth and quality for that amount.

Crucially, though, if Umtiti wants to remain at the Camp Nou, Barca will have much less to worry about.

They will be eager to get the former Lyon man tied to a new contract and increase his release clause to a prohibitively high figure.

Given his latest comments on how he feels about the Catalan club, though, Barca can be more confident of keeping hold of Umtiti past the summer.