Samuel Umtiti (27 years old) breaks his silence in an interview with MD. In these three years, since his ordeal with the knee injury after the 2018 World Cup began, the center-back has invested time in recovering his best physical form. Today he feels better physically than when he signed for Barça in 2016. The journey, he assures, has been very hard, enough to cry, feel misunderstood and the target of criticism. He just wants a chance. Play again for Barça.
How are you physically?
I feel very good physically. I put up with training and I really want to play. I’m waiting for the moment to do it again, but on a physical level I’m fine.
And on a psychological level, how is he after so much time of entry and exit in the team?
It’s a bit tough, a bit tough, but hey … I’ve had tough times due to the injury but now that I’m physically well, I’m happy but I would like to play like all the players and help the team but, for now, I have to continue training hard.
If it’s full, why hasn’t it played for a minute?
There is a technician who makes decisions and I have to accept it. If I don’t play, I have to train more than the others and show that I have the level to do so.
There is an obvious physical change since this preseason.
I was left without holidays working hard because lately I was not physically well. And in double sessions. My body needed it and the truth is that now I’m fine. I had to get to the preseason well, prepared to show that I have the level. I think I have done well.
In the first friendlies he looked good, very strong.
Yes, I think that in those two or three friendlies that I played I was good but I know that I have to continue and train well every day.
What is missing then to play in official matches?
We can train every day but I lack the rhythm of the matches. Rhythm, rhythm, that I hope it reaches me.
There are six centers, is Koeman being fair to you?
I hope so. The truth is that with everything I have done and with everything I am doing … Everyone has seen that I have trained hard, that I have changed a bit. I’m looking forward to a chance to show that I’m okay.
Have you asked the coach for this opportunity?
I can’t ask for anything, because the coach makes the decisions and I have to accept them. I must train and show that I am okay. Ask for something? I will not do it and I think it should not be done. I must prove it in the field.
Have you talked to Koeman about your situation? What do you think?
Yes, yes, because I came home from vacation with great enthusiasm and I looked good and wanted to know how the coach saw me in training.
What did he say? Did you give him to understand that it will be difficult for him?
We are six centers and I knew it was going to be difficult to play but I am like that, if I have something in mind and I am sure I have the level, I intend to prove it.
But it could have come out. Do you see yourself playing for another club?
I don’t see myself playing in another club, no, impossible. Right now I have it very clear. I want to show that I have the level to play here. The most important thing is to get back and show everyone that Samu is okay.
Do youDo you have the feeling that Barcelona fans value effort?
Nobody knows what I have done and what I do. The workouts I do, the double sessions … I’m a worker. Football is my life, Barcelona is my life. In the end he had to work harder than everyone else. As I do not speak, people think that I do nothing, that I am on the couch all day doing nothing but at home I work, I train every day.
Did the whistles you received at the Gamper Trophy hurt you then?
Yes, a lot, honestly. I never thought this could happen to me in this club because I love it, I love this club. I do everything, everything, to be okay. I have had hard times due to injuries but in the end I do my job and this is the most important thing for me. Work and train hard, and people don’t know it.
What would you say to those who whistled at you?
That I’m fine. That the most important thing is the club, helping the players, you have to help everyone. Whistling is useless. I will give everything for the club, as I have tried to do from day one.
Are you in your physical best?
In the best? It could be, because the only thing I lack is the rhythm of the games. I’m very well.
Even more than when he signed?
Yes, sure. I’ve changed everything … The workouts, my diet. I am stronger and faster than before.
So, have you had a problem with Koeman?
Me? None.
How do you understand that it does not give prominence if it is well and the parameters it handles are good?
Good question. I don’t know, there are many of us in my position, you have to fight to play. You can understand the competition, I like it. I will have to work more than the partner. I don’t care, I like it.
If this continues, will you consider leaving in January?
It is clear to me, the most important thing now is to play here because it is my club, I love this club. I want to succeed here, play, win with my teammates, with the team. I see myself here, I’m waiting for that moment to play. I have to continue training, working and showing that I have a place.
Have you had any offers in this time? There was talk of Lyon, Manchester United …
Yes, from various clubs.
What did you answer them? That he was not leaving because his desire is to succeed at Barça?
Yeah right. Everyone knows that I love this club. No, I didn’t see myself anywhere else.
Do youWhat happened to the injury before and after the World Cup?
It has been many years since. I had discomfort but I could go. I went to the World Cup, I played and then I had to do treatment. It was complicated, hard. The most important thing is that I am fine now.
It is past but it is important. There was talk that surgery should be done and that he refused.
I visited three or four doctors who told me that I did not have to operate, that it was a very important risk. It was my decision in the end and had to be made. I said I didn’t want to because my career was at stake and not that of a doctor. I made the decision not to have surgery because there was a risk with the cartilage. I did treatment and nothing else. It was hard because things happened. In the end, I have been lucky to find myself being able to work with professionals and I feel good.
Opt for a conservative treatment, but why does it take so long for it to work?
There are things that we have done well and things that we have done wrong. That is why I have lost like two or three years. It is past, it is a difficult subject for me, because I have suffered a lot, a lot. I have been able to work and be with professional people. It is what matters.
Did you have to be very mentally strong to bear it?
Yes, very strong, because you are alone and you must take …