This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Samuel Umtiti’s Barcelona career has unfortunately taken a swift tumble. Ever since his career was disrupted by serious knee problems, the great Frenchman’s game time has diminished greatly.
And with the news that he has once again been sidelined, maybe the time has finally arrived for Jean-Clair Todibo to assume a bigger role within the Blaugrana squad.
But Umtiti hasn’t always plagued by these fitness problems. It all started in 2018 with his first serious knee injury and since then the Frenchman has refused to have surgery to fix the issue, instead opting for alternative treatments.
And it seems that that decision has come back to haunt him as he hasn’t been able to completely shake the injury ever since.
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To make things even worse, Umtiti has also been struck by the infamous “FIFA virus” and suffered another setback during his outing with France just recently. This time, though, it’s his foot that’s proven problematic rather than his knee.
With all those injury problems, Barcelona might have a real conundrum to face but, luckily, there is still someone who can take over from Umtiti and finally make a big step up.
And it wouldn’t be the first time they tampered with the pecking order in their defence. Ever since Umtiti’s injuries have come to light, Barcelona have reshuffled the cards at centre-back. At first, Umtiti and Gerard Pique were the two designated starters but soon Clement Lenglet took over from Umtiti as the 25-year-old started experiencing issues with his knee.
But even with that being said, Umtiti was still the third-choice centre-back and, as such, he played 14 games last season in La Liga and started a total of 13 of those. Todibo, on the other hand, only played two in 2018/19 – the only two games in his Barcelona career so far.
His lack of opportunities made it clear that he would be limited to the role of fourth choice centre-back. It was a rather weird move by Barcelona, who were betting on an injury-prone player rather than putting some trust into the young 19-year-old talent.
Back then there still may have been some lingering optimism regarding Umtiti’s issues but now, with yet another injury coming his way, it is time to start investing into Todibo instead.
Having such a talented player rotting on the bench because of Umtiti should not be acceptable. If the former Lyon enforcer was fit and firing on all cylinders, then there would be no dispute at all.
But with the situation being as it currently is and Umtiti unfortunately spending more time in the stands than on the pitch, Blaugrana might want to reshuffle the deck once again.
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