Lille [France], July 23 : French professional football club LOSC Lille have signed defender Samuel Umtiti until 2025. LOSC announces the signing of Samuel Umtiti, a new LOSC player. The 29-year-old defender, the 2018 world champion, has signed with the club until 2025, as per the club's official site.
Samuel Yves Umtiti (born 14 November 1993), known as Samuel Umtiti (French pronunciation: [samɥɛl umtiti][3]), is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Lille. He played for the France national team from 2016 to 2019.
Umtiti began his professional career with Lyon in 2012, winning both the Coupe de France and Trophee des Champions in his first year. He totalled 170 games and three goals before a 25 million euro transfer to La Liga club Barcelona in 2016. He won three Copa del Rey and two La Liga titles at Barcelona.
Born in Cameroon, Umtiti holds both French and Cameroonian citizenship. After winning 47 caps and scoring three goals at youth level, including winning the 2013 U-20 World Cup, he made his senior debut for France at UEFA Euro 2016, where they reached the final. Two years later, he was part of the squad that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He scored the only goal of the match in the semi-final against Belgium.
In 2017, Umtiti scored his first goal for France, equalising against England in an eventual 3–2 victory for Les Bleus in a friendly match in Paris.
In 2018, he was called up to the 23-man France squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In the semi-final against Belgium, he scored the only goal of the game, heading in a corner. He also featured in the final of the World Cup against Croatia. France defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final.
At Barca, Samuel forms a very high-level hinge with Gerard Pique. His record with the Blaugrana club is one of the finest in French football.
In 91 games, he won the Spanish title twice (2018 and 2019), won the Spanish Cup three times (2017, 2018, 2021), twice the Super Cup (2016,2018) and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. Loaned last year to Lecce in Serie A, he is having a very big season, contributing greatly to the maintenance of the Italian club.
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