Premier League giants Manchester City are reportedly eyeing a move for Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti according to the latest reports emanating from the media in France.

Manchester City have suffered defensively this season especially in the Premier League mainly due to the long-term absence of first-choice defender Aymeric Laporte.

According to French publication L’Equipe, Premier League champions Manchester City are in the market for a new centre back ahead of the resumption of the winter transfer market in the next three weeks.

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It was revealed that the Citizens want to sign Samuel Umtiti from Barcelona in January to boost their defence till Aymeric Laporte will be available in the next few months.

Frenchman Laporte sustained a serious knee injury during the home game against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League in August with the problem ruling him out for six months until February at least according to doctors.

Samuel Umtiti is a French World Cup winner but he has not been able to displace compatriot Christian Lenglet from the Barcelona defence since his return from a long-term injury layoff last season.

Premier League duo of Chelsea and Manchester United are also monitoring the situation of Umtiti at Barcelona.

Barcelona president Jose Maria Bartomeu has admitted his anxiety over the post-Lionel Messi era at the club.

Jose Maria Bartomeu is worried that Barcelona might struggle a great deal in the absence of Messi who is gradually entering the twilight of his career at the age of 32.

The Barcelona president talked about Lionel Messi and his potential retirement while he was on Catalunya Radio.

Lionel Messi has less than two years left on his current deal at the club.

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His Barcelona contract will expire in 2021 though the petite Argentine international skipper has a clause that could see him work out on the club next summer even with a year left on his existing contract.

Lionel Messi has been at Barcelona since he was a teenager and he’s widely regarded by many as the best player ever.

He recently won his sixth Ballon d’Or title last week ahead of the Liverpool duo of Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk as well as Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the latest development, Messi has the most Ballon d’Or titles ahead of arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo (5 titles).

Lionel Messi celebrated the feat in style with a hattrick against Real Mallorca in the Spanish league at the weekend.

Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele is said to be in contact with three major European clubs as he plots his exit from the Nou Camp outfit.

This is according to the publication from Spanish media portal El Desmarque which revealed that his agent Moussa Sissoko has held talks with three clubs over a potential transfer for the French World Cup winner when the window reopens in the New Year.

Dembele’s agent has been in talks with French champions Paris Saint Germain (PSG), English champions Manchester City and Chelsea.

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Frenchman Ousmane Dembele joined Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona in the summer of 2017 from German side Borussia Dortmund but he has not been able to live up to expectations at the Nou Camp partly due to his injury woes.

Barcelona paid £105m for his signature and he’s presently out injured.

Ousmane Dembele is in his third season at Barcelona already and the French winger is not considered a regular in the starting lineup when fit.

He is behind the attacking trio of Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Barcelona.

The former Rennes player is a long-term target for a lot of Premier League teams from Chelsea to Arsenal to Manchester United.

Chelsea have reportedly contacted Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele over a potential move to Stamford Bridge next summer.

This is according to the report from Spanish media outlet El Desmarque which said that the Blues have sounded out his representatives over a move to West London with the reigning Europa League champions expected to be active in the transfer market after their ban was overturned partially last week.

Chelsea had been slapped with a two-window transfer ban by world football’s governing body FIFA earlier this year for breaking the rules relating to the transfer of young players.

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The FIFA ruling was appealed by Chelsea and subsequently thrown out by the body’s Appeal Committee thereby leading the Blues to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

According to the CAS verdict delivered on Friday, Chelsea had the ban reduced from two windows to just one window which has already been served in the summer.

Chelsea can now sign players as from the winter transfer market which opens again next month.

Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele has endured a frustrating time at the Nou Camp since his transfer to the club in 2017.

His form has been affected negatively by several injury problems.

Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi has set a new Spanish La Liga record following his treble performance against Real Mallorca on Saturday night.

Messi was at his very best as he helped Barcelona to a convincing win over the newly promoted team in one of the week 16 La Liga games played on Saturday.

The newly crowned Ballon d’Or recipient scored a hattrick to propel his team to a 5-2 victory over their opponents.

With the result, Lionel Messi was able to set a new record for the most hattricks in the history of Spanish La Liga.

Messi (35 hattricks) was able to break the record of long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo (34 hattricks).

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He opened his account against Real Mallorca with the second Barcelona goal after French World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann had given the home side the lead at the Nou Camp.

Real Mallorca star Ante Budimir halved the deficit for his team before Messi restored the two-goal advantage for Barcelona with his brace.

Barcelona went 4-1 up with Luis Suarez’s first goal of the game shortly before the halftime interval.

Ante Budimir pulled another goal back for the visitors in the second half before Lionel Messi wrapped up the game with his hat-trick seven minutes from time.

Lionel Messi has now scored 12 goals in just 10 La Liga games.

He was recently named the Ballon d’Or Award recipient to take his tally to six Ballon d’Or titles.

Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the list of the five best strikers named by Luis Suarez in one of his recent interviews as monitored by popular media portal Goal.

Ronaldo was conspicuously missing from the list from Barcelona star Luis Suarez.

The list of the best strikers is headlined by Barcelona pal and teammate Lionel Messi who was at the forefront of the five-man lost from former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.

The list had Brazilian football legend Romario in fifth position, while ex-Brazilian international star Ronaldo was named in fourth position by Uruguayan national team star Luis Suarez.

His former Uruguayan national teammate Diego Dorian came in third spot, while Argentine football legend Gabriel Batistuta was in second position behind Lionel Messi.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has not had the best of seasons at Juventus and that was compounded by his position during the Ballon d’Or Award ceremony on Monday night.

The Juventus player finished third at the end of the voting process for the Best Player Award.

Ronaldo finished behind Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk in second place and Lionel Messi in first position.

Argentine international Messi has now won six Ballon d’Or titles which is more than any other player.

Premier League duo Arsenal and Liverpool have joined the race to sign young Red Bull Salzburg attacker Karim Adeyemi according to the latest reports emanating from the Spanish media.

Karim Adeyemi is on loan at Austrian second-tier Liefering where he has scored eight goals in 13 appearances.

According to Spanish media outlet SPORT, Arsenal and Liverpool have joined Barcelona in the race to sign the young attacker.

The 17-year-old joined Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg in July 2018 and he was then loaned to Liefering.

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The Nigerian-born player has been able to paint Liefering with goals this season and that has attracted the interest of the biggest clubs in Spain, England and Germany.

Barcelona Academy director Patrick Kluivert is a big admirer of the player but he will have to contend with two Premier League teams namely Arsenal and reigning European champions Liverpool in the quest to sign the player.

German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund are also in the mix of the clubs keen to sign Karim Adeyemi who was signed for around £2m by Red Bull Salzburg last summer.

A recent report from the Daily Mail claimed that Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg rejected a transfer fee of £15m for him.

French billionaire Bernard Arnault has reportedly been linked with an ambitious swoop for Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

This is according to the report from La Repubblica which revealed that the billionaire wants to buy Italian Serie A giants AC Milan and thereafter try to lure both Messi and Guardiola to the club.

Bernard Arnault is the third richest man in the world as confirmed by Forbes.

The Frenchman has a net worth of €107m to make him the third richest man.

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He wants Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola at AC Milan in what could be a farfetched target for him.

Messi was recently crowned the best player in the world for the sixth time after winning the Ballon d’Or award on Monday.

The Barcelona superstar was level with arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo on five Ballon d’Or titles before the recipient for the 2019 Ballon d’Or Award was revealed earlier this month.

Messi had earlier won the Ballon d’Or Award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

On his part, Pep Guardiola has won the last two Premier League titles at Manchester City but faces a big hurdle to make it a hat-trick of wins in the league with his team currently trailing leaders Liverpool by 11 points after 15 league games.