Transfer News: Barcelona in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over Clement Lenglet loan move
According to the Spanish publication Esport3 (h/t The Express), Barcelona are currently engaged in talks with Tottenham Hotspur to facilitate a loan move for Clement Lenglet this summer. His form at Camp Nou has fallen off a cliff over the past few seasons, which has seen him fall down the pecking order under Xavi Hernandez.
Now, Lenglet seems to be in line to leave Barca this summer which has seen him get linked with a move to the Premier League. Newcastle United have been touted as a potential destination just like Tottenham ahead of the next campaign. Xavi has already told him that he is not in their plans leading to this situation.
The Catalans are now in contact with Spurs as they look to close a two-year loan move for the French international this summer. The English side have considered going down this route as they are unlikely to get their top target Alessandro Bastoni from Inter Milan in the upcoming transfer window.
Right move from Spurs?
The North London side are in the market for a left-sided centre-back option to bolster their three at the back formation. That is what prompted them to target Bastoni in the first place, but it appears that they may not get their hands on him at this moment.
Lenglet is being lined up as a replacement, which does raise some concerns as there is a vast difference in quality between him and Bastoni. The former is a shadow of his former self, which makes it questionable why we are targeting the 26-year-old in the first place.
Then again, Antonio Conte has shown during his short tenure at N17 how he can help players get to their best selves under his guidance. In fact, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski have been quite disappointing at Juventus before we signed them in January.
Conte has helped Bentancur and Kulusevski to reinvigorate their playing career, and they have been among our best players since then. Hence, there is no reason to believe that the boss cannot do the same with Lenglet if the man in charge demands the central defender’s signature.
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Fabio Paratici has been able to do some great business using loan deals that also included an option to buy. We brought in Cristian Romero and Kulusevksi in such a manner, but whether Lenglet would follow them up or not would only be known in due time.
The two-year loan move would give us enough time to assess whether Lenglet can be dependable in the long run. In such a case, perhaps this attempt to bring him to N17 could prove to be a good deal if Conte can help him get back to his best.
