Barcelona loan injury-plagued French World Cup winner Umtiti to Lecce

The 28-year-old defender is due to undergo a medical later on Thursday at Lecce, who won Serie B title last season. "Barcelona and Lecce of Italian Serie A have reached an agreement on the loan of defender Samuel Umtiti until 30 June 2023," read a statement on the Barcelona website. "There is no purchase option."

Spanish sports paper Marca reported that Lecce and Barcelona will share his salary, but that Barca will get bonus payments depending on games played. Umtiti was one of the players Barcelona wished to offload before the end of the transfer window on September 1 so they get under the pay cap and register new signing Jules Kounde.

Umtiti played an important role in France's World Cup triumph despite a troublesome knee. He scored the only goal in the semi-final win over Belgium.