Goal reported earlier this week that Barca are open to selling the France international, who has been linked with a move to Old Trafford
Mikael Silvestre has dismissed suggestions Samuel Umtiti could head to Manchester United, saying he doesn't see the Barcelona man fitting in at Old Trafford.
Former United defender Silvestre, though, doesn't believe defence should be an area of focus, and added that Umtiti wouldn't be his first choice if the club do look to sign a defender this summer.
“Man United will always look to sign players with the X-factor, but I don’t see Samuel Umtiti as necessarily a Manchester United player," Silvestre told us-bookies.com exclusively.
"I think Eric Bailly has all the qualities Man United need in defence but United will always target the best, so who knows who might come in and they will always look to strengthen the squad.
"For me the focus would be the midfield.”
Silvestre, who played for United between 1999 and 2008, also endorsed the club's decision to name his former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer permanent manager.
“I think it was the only decision the club could have made, everyone had an idea it was coming," Silvestre said.
"He’s made a real impact on the team, 32 points out of 39 in the Premier League and 14 wins out of 19 games is a great record so it wasn’t really a surprise decision.”
One of the biggest reasons Solskjaer landed the permanent job has been his ability to get the best out of Paul Pogba, an area where his predecessor Jose Mourinho notably struggled.
Silvestre believes that with Solskjaer in place, Pogba can now go on to even bigger things and could even potentially captain the side down the line.
“The captaincy at United is different in the modern generation, as you need a couple of leaders in the team, but I think Paul Pogba could be the one to lead the team," the 41-year-old said.