Early years
edit
Umtiti was born in
Yaounde
, Cameroon, he moved with his family when he was two-years-old to
Villeurbanne
, France. A few months later, however, the family settled in the district of Menival in the
5th arrondissement of Lyon
. Thereafter, Umtiti joined the local football club Menival at the age of five. At nine years old, he joined
Lyon's youth academy
.
[7]
He acquired
French nationality
on 25 September 2008, through the collective effect of his mother's
naturalization
.
[8]
Umtiti was included in a
Lyon
squad for the first time on 16 August 2011, remaining an unused substitute as they defeated
Rubin Kazan
3?1 in the first leg of the
Champions League
play-off round
.
[9]
He made his professional debut for the club on 8 January 2012, playing the whole match in a 3?1 victory over local rivals
Lyon-Duchere
in the
Coupe de France
.
[10]
Six days later, he made his
Ligue 1
debut in a 1?0 away defeat to
Montpellier
, playing the entire game.
[11]
Umtiti made a total of 18 appearances across all competitions in
his debut season
.
In the 2012?13 season, he became a more regular member of the Lyon first team. On 12 January 2013, against
Troyes
in a 2?1 away win, he scored his first career goal.
[12]
He finished the season with 32 appearances in all competitions and two goals.
[13]
Barcelona
edit
On 30 June 2016, Umtiti signed for
La Liga
side
Barcelona
for a fee of €25?million.
[14]
[15]
On 17 August, Umtiti made his first appearance for Barcelona in the second leg of the
2016 Supercopa de Espana
which Barcelona won 3?0 versus
Sevilla
and lifted the trophy.
[16]
Umtiti picked up a knee injury in September 2016 while in Barcelona training, causing him to miss a crucial
La Liga
clash against
Atletico Madrid
.
[17]
[18]
He scored his first goal for the club, on 4 March 2017, against
Celta de Vigo
with Barcelona winning 5?0 at the Camp Nou.
[19]
He would later play a vital role in the
2016?17 Champions League
round of 16 second leg fixture against
Paris Saint-Germain
, as he started the match alongside
Gerard Pique
and
Javier Mascherano
in a 3-man central defence partnership. Umtiti assisted his teammates in recovering from a 4?0 first leg deficit to a historic 6?1 victory, the biggest comeback in the history of the Champions League.
[20]
He would cap off his first year in Spain by winning the
2016?17 Copa del Rey
and by establishing himself firmly as first-choice in central defence for the club alongside Pique.
[21]
Now established as first-choice in defence at the club, after Barcelona's subpar
2017 Supercopa de Espana
while reeling off the loss of
Neymar
, Umtiti began the season with great performances, under the guidance of new manager
Ernesto Valverde
.
[22]
On 2 December, Umtiti injured his right hamstring and was ruled out for eight weeks.
[23]
Umtiti scored the winning goal against
Valencia CF
at Camp Nou, on 14 April, in a 2?1 victory for the Catalans.
[24]
A week later, on 21 April, Umtiti started for Barcelona in the
2018 Copa del Rey Final
, holding a clean sheet in an eventual 5?0 victory over Sevilla at the
Metropolitano Stadium
.
[25]
Additionally, Umtiti won his first La Liga winners' medal during his second season in Spain, with the defender appearing in 40 games and scoring one goal across all competitions.
[26]
On 3 June 2018, Umtiti signed a new five-year contract with Barcelona. The release clause was subsequently set at €500 million.
[27]
Umtiti was named as a substitute for the
2018 Supercopa de Espana
behind Pique and a new summer signing
Clement Lenglet
. Despite not featuring and with Barcelona winning the match 2?1 against Sevilla, Umtiti claimed his fifth winners' medal since joining the club.
[21]
[28]
In 2018, Umtiti picked up a knee injury which could have been treated with surgery, but he instead opted for conservative treatment, and proceeded to play in the 2018 World Cup, which he won with France. However, this choice resulted in the defender spending much of the following season with Barcelona injured.
[29]
[30]
In August 2020, while recovering from a knee injury, Umtiti tested positive for
COVID-19
.
[31]
However, fitness difficulties plagued him year after year, and he was reduced to a supporting role for Barcelona.
[32]
Loan to Lecce
edit
On 25 August 2022, Barcelona announced that they had reached an agreement with newly-promoted
Serie A
side
Lecce
on the loan of Umtiti until 30 June 2023, with no purchase option.
[33]
[34]
He then made his debut with the club on 9 October, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 2?1
league
loss against
Roma
.
[35]
On 4 January 2023, the defender was
racially abused
, together with his team-mate
Lameck Banda
, by a group of away supporters during a home league game against
Lazio
.
[36]
[37]
[38]
[39]
The Lazio fans involved kept targeting the two players with racist chants throughout most parts of the match,
[36]
[37]
with
referee
Livio Martinelli being forced to interrupt the game for a few minutes during the second half.
[36]
[38]
[39]
The game eventually ended in a 2?1 win for Lecce.
[37]
[38]
Umtiti, who burst into tears after the final whistle and was praised for his performance on the pitch,
[36]
[37]
was defended by Lecce supporters, who had attempted to drown out the abuse with counter-chants of praise for the Frenchman throughout the second half;
[36]
[38]
[39]
[40]
the club's president himself, Saverio Sticchi Damiani, also stood for both the abused players in the post-match.
[36]
[39]
[40]
Lazio apologised for the behaviour of their supporters by issuing an official statement on social media,
[41]
while
FIFA
president
Gianni Infantino
showed support to Umtiti and Banda through a message on his
Instagram
profile.
[38]
[39]
Umtiti made 24 starts and played a key role in defence all season, as Lecce were able to secure Serie A safety on 28 May with a 1?0 win over
Monza
.
[42]
Contract termination
edit
On 30 June 2023, Barcelona announced they had mutually agreed to end Umtiti's contract which was supposed to last until the 2025?26 season.
[43]
On 21 July 2023, Umtiti signed for
Ligue 1
club
Lille
until 2025.
[44]
Umtiti was a
France youth international
, having represented the country from
under-17
to
under-21
levels. He was an integral member of the team that won France's first ever
U-20 World Cup
in 2013. Although, he had to sit out the final against
Uruguay
due to a red card received in the semi-final against
Ghana
.
[45]
Umtiti was born and spent the first two years of his life in Cameroon. Therefore, the
Cameroonian Football Federation
and their former international player
Roger Milla
met his advisors in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to represent
their national team
.
[46]
Umtiti, who was at the time uncapped at senior level, was selected by the France national team manager
Didier Deschamps
to be part of the France's
squad
for the
European Championship
in
2016
, following an injury to the compatriot
Jeremy Mathieu
.
[47]
Umtiti made his senior debut on 3 July by playing every minute of the
quarter-final
against
Iceland
at the
Stade de France
, replacing the suspended
Adil Rami
. Thus, he became the first outfield player since
Gabriel De Michele
(at the
1966 World Cup
) to win his first cap for France by appearing in the finals of a major tournament and was accurate with all 77 of his passes during the match, which France won 5?2.
[48]
He later earned extremely positive reviews for his performance in the semi-final against the incumbent world champions
Germany
.
[49]
This led to a lot of excitement over Umtiti's prospects for his newly signed club, Barcelona, and his future as a player.
[50]
On 13 June 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.
[51]
On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23-man
France squad
for the
2018 World Cup
in Russia.
[52]
In the semi-final against
Belgium
on 10 July, he scored the only goal of the game, heading in a corner.
[6]
On 15 July, Umtiti was named as a starter, as France beat
Croatia
4?2 in the
final
.
[53]
Umtiti is a powerful and rangy left-footed central
defender
, who is predominantly known for his physical strength, anticipation, pace, ability in the air, and tackling, as well as his distribution, technique, and ability on the ball, which enables him to carry the ball out from the defence, or start attacking plays from the back with his passing.
[54]
[55]
[56]
[57]
[58]
[59]
In 2018,
ESPN FC
journalist Sam Marsden praised Umtiti's reading of the game, timing and risk-taking, adding that he could lead Barcelona's defence for the next five to 10 years.
[60]
In the 2017?18 season, Umtiti had suffered several knee and muscle injuries when playing for Barcelona.
[61]
When the World Cup came, he had been advised by many doctors to take surgery to prevent injuries getting worse and worse, however Umtiti decided to play through the pain instead.
[62]
Despite winning the World Cup, Umtiti has struggled with many injuries which has deeply affected his career as a result, and he has since been known to be very injury prone.