Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly closing in on signing Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet on loan in the ongoing transfer window.
According to Spanish publication El Periodico, Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet is poised to secure a season-long loan switch to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
Lenglet has fallen out of favour at Barcelona over the past couple of years, and the club are intent on getting rid of him this summer as they look to trim down their wage bill. The 27-year-old, who joined the Blaugrana from Sevilla in 2018, was linked with a move to Marseille, but the French club are not in a position to pay his salary.
Italian giants AS Roma were also touted to be a potential destination, but have decided to back out of the deal, leaving Tottenham as the frontrunners to capture the signing of Lenglet. And as reported by El Periodico, the Frenchman is now set to secure a loan move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Negotiations between the two clubs are said to have intensified earlier this week and an agreement is now on the verge of being finalised. As per the report, Barcelona are demanding a loan fee of around €5 million while they also want a mandatory purchase option to be included in the agreement. In addition, Barcelona want Tottenham to pay Lenglet’s entire salary.
Whether those terms are accepted by the Lilywhites has not been made clear, but it is claimed that the two clubs are working on finalising the agreement. These claims are corroborated by Gianluca Di Marzio, who also states that Tottenham have ‘closed’ the loan signing of Lenglet from Barcelona, although the specifics of the deal have not been detailed in the report.
Tottenham have been in the market for a new left-sided centre-back – a position that manager Antonio Conte is keen on strengthening after having used Ben Davies in the role last season. Links to Alessandro Bastoni were plentiful, but the Inter Milan defender is not keen on a move away, which left Spurs scouring the market for alternatives.
While young players like Benoit Badiashile, Josko Gvardiol and Piero Hincapie have been mentioned as targets, the north Londoners seem to have opted to settle for Lenglet. The 27-year-old has not displayed the best form over the past couple of years. So, his signing would be fraught with risk for Tottenham. But as things stand, they are close to completing the loan signing of the French ace.
Should the deal get over the line, Lenglet would become Tottenham Hotspur’s fourth major signing of the summer following the arrivals of Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Yves Bissouma.
