Samuel Umtiti Withdraws From France Squad After Suffering Foot Injury
Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti has withdrawn from the France squad and returned to Camp Nou for treatment on a foot injury.
Umtiti was forced to sit out Saturday's 4-1 win over Albania because of the injury, but he remained with the squad in the hope of recovering for the meeting with Andorra on Tuesday.
However, the French Football Federation took to their official website to reveal that Didier Deschamps has decided to let Umtiti return to Barcelona for treatment on a haematoma in his right foot.
He left the Clairefontaine training base on Sunday, and France will not be calling up a replacement to face Andorra. Despite the World Cup winner's absence, Les Bleus can still rely on Raphael Varane, Clement Lenglet, Benjamin Pavard and Kurt Zouma.
For Umtiti, the future is not so bright. He has battled injuries for the majority of the last few seasons, and those struggles have seen him lose his place in the starting lineup for both France and Barcelona.
Lenglet has taken his place in both squads, and it appears that Umtiti will now have to wait a little bit longer to stake his claim for a return to the team.
France did not confirm how long Umtiti will be sidelined, but he is now a huge doubt for Barcelona's clash with Valencia in Saturday, although it was unlikely that he would start that game anyway.
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He has been an unused substitute in all three of Barcelona's matches this season, but he will have been hopeful of earning an opportunity soon as the Blaugrana have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their matches so far.
Should Umtiti be forced to miss out, it would open the door for 19-year-old Jean-Clair Todibo to make an appearance on the bench for the first time since May.
