Nkoulou joins Lyon on 4-year contract

Olympique Lyonnais announced Wednesday the club has signed Cameroonian defender Nicolas Nkoulou on a four-year deal and a free transfer out of Marseille, where his contract was set to expire at the end of June.

The 26-year-old passed a medical examination Monday evening and joins the club on a contract until June 2020.

"I am here because OL is a club which can help me continue to grow. It's a real pleasure to be here," Nkoulou said, according to ESPN FC. "I will wear this shirt with a lot of desire and I will work to achieve great things."

Last season, Nkoulou made 38 appearances for Marseille en route to a less-than-satisfactory 13th-place finish in the 2015-16 Ligue 1 season.

He now joins a Lyon team looking to contest Paris Saint-Germain for the French domestic title after finishing second last season ... with a 31-point gap separating the two teams at the top of the table.