It’s been quite a week for Samuel Umtiti, who is set to make his France debut in the Euro 2016 quarter-final against Iceland, after the presidents of both Lyon and Barcelona confirmed that a deal had been agreed for the France defender to move to the Camp Nou.
A month ago, he was controversially snubbed by Didier Deschamps, head coach of Les Bleus. Despite being named in an initial squad of 30 for the European Championship, Adil Rami was preferred by the ex-Juventus boss to replace the injured Raphael Varane in his selection. However, a further injury to Jeremy Mathieu, now a club-mate, meant that Umtiti received a well-deserved call.
“It’s a rise that’s logical for him. He’s been improving at a steady pace since he arrived at Lyon in the Under-9s,” Gerard Bonneau, head of recruitment for Lyon’s academy since 2003, told Goal. “I don’t think Barcelona are taking a risk in taking Samuel. They’ve been watching him for a long time and they know what he’s capable of.”
Having gone through the France squad at all age groups, he has never been a regular at any level in the national set up.
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“Lucas Digne played on the left, and that made it difficult, but to be a replacement in the middle of the defence has surely done him much good,” Marco Rosenfelder, a former team-mate of Umtiti at youth level, said to Goal.
“When I saw that that Barcelona were interested in him, at first I was surprised,” Bonneau admitted. “I told myself: ‘Olala! Barcelona!’ But he is exactly what they are looking for: a true defender. I even think that he’s better than Jeremy Mathieu. Barca are not in the habit of forming their own defenders and it’s a good thing for them to sign Samuel. He’s 22 and has played a long time in the senior game already. How many players of his age have the same experience?”
At Lyon since he was eight, Umtiti is known for his “impressive maturity.” That is confirmed to Goal by Pierre Mankowski, France Under-21 boss. “He’s a player who’s solid and a complete defender,” he said. “Technically, he’s very strong and he’s got a great temperament. When breaks are being created, he’s excellent. He’s capable of going forward and playing well. He’s got no major weaknesses, even if he’s still young and can improve. I would just say that sometimes he needs to calm down a little because he can be frustrated and lose his focus when the referee makes certain decisions.”
His former team-mates have excellent memories of him and see Barcelona as a just reward for his work.
“Barcelona? It’s really something,” Eliott Sorin, an ex-colleague in the international youth ranks, told Goal. “He has to take the bet and if he had not gone now maybe Barcelona would have found someone else.”
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Everything is a question of timing in modern football, but Umtiti would seem to have the characteristics to be successful in a new environment. Certainly, that’s how Rosenfelder saw Umtiti when they played together.
“He had everything for a modern defender, he was a little Spanish in his style. He goes forward very quickly and likes to play short passes. Even when he has to go long, he rarely does it badly,” he explained.
He has the qualities to walk in the footsteps of a player like Eric Abidal, a former Lyon player who left to shine at Barcelona. But in Umtiti’s head, the Catalans must take a back seat – at least for now. On Sunday, he is poised to make his international bow against Iceland. Deschamps told the France squad of his decision to start the Lyon man ahead of Eliaquim Mangala during a training session on Wednesday.
“Whether it’s Elia or Sam, it doesn’t matter. We’ll play the game in the best conditions possible,” Patrice Evra said.
It won’t be a straightforward introduction to international football – it is a game that some in the squad have defined as “the most important of their career”.
“Like Barcelona, I think that Deschamps believes in him and is prepared to put his confidence in him,” Bonneau affirmed. “Samuel has the qualities to play in this squad. And it’s a dream for him.”
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“I didn’t expect him to play unless there were injuries, but if the coach has decided to start him it must be because he has the ability to be there,” Mankowski said.
A reserve when the initial squad for Euro 2016 was named and overlooked when Varane got injured, Umtiti had to wait until Mathieu fell out of contention to claim a spot in France’s 23-man squad on May 28. A month later, the defender will profit from Rami’s absence to start. He has everything to win in this high-profile match. But he also has a lot to lose if he does not play to his ability.
“I don’t see him having a problem,” Bonneau said. “He won’t have a bad game on debut – on the contrary, he’ll show the world why he’s there. If you followed him at Lyon, you’d see that the leaders of the squad were Maxime Gonalons and him. There are players who have great experience, but he has always had this mentality.
“He’s always been very mature for his age,” Rosenfelder agreed. “He gets on well with everyone and on the field he’s already a very good player.”
Against Iceland, he will play on the left of the two centre-backs, pushing Laurent Koscielny to the right. Deschamps is obligated to make such a move as the former Lyon star has almost never played on the right. And if he is successful, could the hierarchy in the France defence change? It’s not likely that Deschamps would change things in the middle of a major tournament, but as Umtiti knows, things can move very quickly in football.
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