?Barcelona have confirmed that France defender Samuel Umtiti will be sidelined until after January, having injured his hamstring.

The La Liga giants played out a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday, during which the 24-year-old suffered the injury while chasing down Iago Aspas.

“Tests carried out have confirmed that Samuel Umtiti has a hamstring injury in his right leg and he is expected to be out for around 8 weeks,” Barcelona reported via their ?official website. “Umtiti will now miss the rest of 2017 and January of next year.”

The defender joined the Catalan side from Lyon for a reported £20.5m fee, and has been quite impressive since then. His absence will leave Barca short on solid options. But Thomas Vermaelen, who replaced him on Saturday, could be the one who fills in while the Frenchman remains out injured.

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La Blaugrana will rue the missed opportunity to extend their lead as far as was possible and losing Umtiti for the rest of the year, on top of that, will certainly leave a bad taste.