Barcelona are taking extreme caution with Samuel Umtiti amid fears he could be the new Thomas Vermaelen. The club do not like the way he’s handled his knee injury by not undergoing surgery and wanted to sell him last summer. He was left out of the friendly against Cartagena because he has not managed two consecutive games for a long time.
Dinamo Zagreb coach Nenad Bjelica has urged Ivan Rakitic to leave Barcelona in the January transfer window. He said: “He has had great seasons at Barça and has become a legend. That’s why he deserves something else but his departure is something that depends on Ivan himself and Valverde We know he is playing less, but wherever he goes he will show how good a player he is again.