Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti has accepted that he will have to overcome major competition if he wants to become a permanent fixture in the starting XI for his new club.
Umtiti, 22, moved to Barcelona in a €25 million deal earlier this week and will be joined at the Spanish champions by France international teammate Lucas Digne, who agreed a €16.5m transfer on Wednesday.
Umtiti helped Lyon to a second-placed finish in Ligue 1 in each of the past two seasons but he expects to have to bide his time before imposing himself at Barcelona.
"I'm fully aware that there is a risk that I'll have less games than I'm used to," he told L'Equipe. "But it was necessary that I might take it.
"It's the ideal club to continue my development at. I'm not going over there to immediately become an unquestionable starter. I'm going there to learn initially."
�� 22-year-old @UmtitiSam to be officially presented Friday at 1.30pm CET: https://t.co/6XnKYpVYpA | #UmtitiFCB pic.twitter.com/feRP6yEE9A
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 13, 2016
Umtiti saw another childhood dream come true when he made his debut for France in their Euro 2016 quarterfinal against Iceland, a 5-2 win for the hosts.
He then kept his place in the side for the 2-0 win over world champions Germany in the last four and the 1-0 defeat against Portugal in the final.
Having now signed a five-year deal with Barcelona, he said it felt as though "everything that I wanted came true."
But the Cameroon-born centre-back plans to make the most of his move to Spain.
"Maybe people see me differently and my status has changed a little," he said.
"I'm entering a new world and I'm fitting into a top club. For me, there's none bigger.
"I'm going to have to adapt quickly to how Barca work. But I feel that I'm capable of doing so. I have no apprehension and I'm even impatient."