"Lyon" president Jean-Michel Aulas confirmed that 22-year-old defender Samuel Umtiti will play for the Spanish champions next season.
The promising defender has been linked with "Barcelona" for several months. It is said that the Catalans will pay around 30 million euros for the football player to the "Lyon" club.
Currently, the defender is competing with the French national team in the European Championship. According to J-M. Aulas, the final decisions about S. Umtiti's future will be made after these championships.
"We feel that we will have to say goodbye to him. Samuel Umtiti has reached a preliminary agreement with Barcelona," said Lyon's president.
"We promised him that we would let him choose the club he wants. The same thing happened in 2009 with Karim Benzema, whom we allowed to join Real Madrid without any obstacles."
Currently, Umtiti is with the French national team and all his attention is focused on the quarter-final match against Iceland. However, if the three parties reach an agreement, it is very likely that we will say goodbye to him," said the president.
