Coutinho, Umtiti Say They Want to Stay at Barcelona Despite Exit Talk
Barcelona duo Philippe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti have stated their intentions to stay at the club, despite the pair having difficult seasons at the Catalan giants.
Coutinho signed for La Blaugrana last January from Liverpool for a fee reported to be worth over £135m, making the Brazilian the third most expensive player in the world.
However, the 27-year-old has struggled to make an impact during his first 18 months at the Camp Nou, scoring just 21 goals in 75 appearances.
"It really was not a good season and I did not perform as I expected," Coutinho told a press conference, as reported by Sport. He added: "My will was always to offer the best of myself and I hope that what has happened to me will serve as an example, a lesson.
"I want more and my desire is to assume that responsibility and succeed in Barça and the national team. That is my intention".
Regarding the speculation about his future, the playmaker stated: "Many of the things that are coming out are not true.
"No one knows right now what is going to happen. The only thing I know is that I have a contract in force with Barça and that my desire has always been to succeed on this team.
"Of course, right now I'm just thinking about Brazil."
Meanwhile, center half Umtiti has claimed that injuries ruined his season, but he will be back to full fitness for the upcoming campaign.
The 25-year-old, who played just 14 times last year, said: "I'm better, it's true that it was a difficult season because of the injury but I knew it was going to happen, that there had to be a transition because I had a lot of difficulties during the World Cup," which was quoted by Mundo Deportivo.
