Umtiti gives his first words as a Lille player

The 29-year-old central defender, who released himself from his contract with Barcelona at the beginning of July, has signed for Lille for two seasons. Before leaving France, "I belonged to a club, Lyon, I was trained there, my heart is part of this city", he admitted at the press conference.

"Coming back to France, logically I was thinking of Lyon, I prefer to be honest, but in the end I chose to go to a club that wanted me, that had the same principles and values as me," he explained. Having been regularly injured for four seasons (2018-2022) and spent last term on loan in Italy with Lecce, where he played 25 games, Samuel Umtiti has assured us that he is back to "very good form".

"Physically, I'm very good," he said, thanking Lecce for "giving me (his) chance when not many people wanted (him)". Hampered by repeated injuries, mainly to his knee, he didn't play more than 20 games per season in all competitions until 2022: 15 (2018-2019), 18 (2019-2020), 16 (2020-2021), 1 (2021-2022).

"I had a complete season last year, even though I started playing in December. After the World Cup, I was able to play one match after another," he stressed. At Lille, "I want to be good in every match, in every training session".

"The Big Sam is back", joked LOSC chairman Olivier Letang alongside him, adding that "it sends out a strong signal when a French world champion returns to Ligue 1".

Umtiti, one of 'Les Bleus' key players at the 2018 World Cup, has indicated that he has not written off a possible return to the French national team. "I really want to perform well with Lille (...), if I do, other things will come with it, I'm not worried about that," he assured. "I've already had a taste of the French team, (experienced) some exceptional moments, obviously these are things I want to relive.

 

July 22, 2023