Arsenal suffer blow in pursuit of Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti

Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti after he admitted he could return to former club Lyon.

The Frenchman has been on Arsenal's radar for some time but have never managed to strike deal.

A series of injuries and the arrivals of Clement Lenglet and Matthijs de Ligt in recent seasons have nudged Umtiti down the pecking order though and his time at the Nou Camp could be coming to a close.

However, speaking about where his future could be, Umtiti admitted a return to Lyon could be on the cards.

According to Sport, he said: 'I'd like to be a coach. I take notes from those I've worked under, their training sessions and what they do.

'Returning to Lyon is a possibility, as a player or as a coach.'

Umtiti came through the youth system at Lyon, arriving in 2002, before leaving for the Nou Camp in a deal worth £25million in 2016.

The Gunners have been looking for a new focal point of their defence for years but when asked about their interest as recently as September, Umtiti said: 'Honestly, I don’t know where this rumour came from.

'Overnight, I received messages from my friends saying, "Ah, so you are joining Arsenal?" I’m not, I’m sorry but I’m staying at Barcelona.

'To be honest, I don’t know if they had conversations with my agent, I just told him that I didn’t care what was happening this summer and that it wasn’t even necessary to talk to me about it.

'It was useless, I was going to have the same answer. My dream as a child is to play for Barcelona.'