JAKARTA — Barcelona officially released their player Samuel Umtiti. The France international was released on loan to Italian club Lecce.

The Blaugrana confirmed the transfer of Umtiti on Thursday, August 25 local time. Lecce have the option to keep the 28-year-old in the deal.

"Barcelona and Lecce have reached an agreement on the loan of Samuel Umtiti until 30 June 2023," a club statement read.

Actually, apart from Lecce, several other teams are also interested in signing Umtiti this summer. Among them are Girona, Rennes and Olympiacos.

However, the defender decided to join the Lecce team. The team won Serie B last season to move up to the Italian top flight this season.

Umtiti has a contract with Barcelona until 2026. He is even willing to take a pay cut to help the Catalan club overcome their financial problems.

However, the player is not needed by tactician Xavi Hernandez for the 2022/2023 campaign season. For this reason, Umtiti chose not to travel on Barcelona's pre-season tour in the United States.

Umtiti joined Barcelona in 2016 and has played in 133 games in total. However, a series of injuries made his playing time reduced.


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