Back in 2018, as France won the World Cup with two men in their mid-twenties at centre-back, there was every reason to believe the same pairing could be in the middle four-and-a-half years later.
In the end, those predicting such an outcome would end up being half-right, with Raphael Varane remaining in the middle to help Les Bleus get within a game of back-to-back titles. However, it's been a different story for the man who served as his partner in Russia, Samuel Umtiti.
Like Varane, Umtiti has not been playing for a big-hitter in Spain this season. While Varane remains a starter for a high-profile club thanks to his move to Manchester United, though, Umtiti has seen his career move in a very different direction.
