Cardiff City defender Kevin Theophile-Catherine has returned to his native France, joining Saint-Etienne on a season-long loan, the Ligue 1 club announced on Monday.

Saint-Etienne have an option to make the deal permanent for the 24-year-old Brittany-born full-back, who played in the Premier League last season for Cardiff after joining from Rennes.

However, with Cardiff having been relegated to the Championship, he comes back to France to become Les Verts' third summer signing.

They have already recruited winger Kevin Monnet-Paquet from Lorient and Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel on loan from Norwich City.