Samuel Umtiti will be joining Serie A side Lecce on a season-long loan, Barcelona have confirmed.
Barcelona announced his departure from the club with no option to buy on their Twitter platform.
Umtiti becomes the latest player to be offloaded by the club as they seek to get their squad in order following a high-spending transfer window, despite well-documented financial difficulties.
He penned a new extension with Barca earlier this year, albeit on reduced wages, but will now spend the 2022-23 campaign in Italy with newly promoted Lecce,
Umtiti joined Barca from Lyon in 2016 and has made 133 appearances across all competitions for the club, winning two league titles and the Copa del Rey on three occasions.
In addition, he was a key member of the France squad that claimed World Cup glory at Russia 2018, though the centre-back has not played for his country since 2019 and is expected to miss out on selection for this year’s tournament in Qatar.
Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen and Jules Kounde have joined Barcelona.
Neto, Oscar Mingueza, Riqui Puig, Luuk de Jong, Adama Traore and Dani Alves among those to leave so far.
Barca are still yet to register former Sevilla defender Kounde, whose future at Camp Nou could well hinge upon whether Xavi’s side are able to offload forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Memphis Depay before the deadline, while Martin Braithwaite is another player they would like to move on.
Agreement with Unione Sportiva Lecce for loan of Umtiti until 30 June 2023
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 25, 2022