Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly issued an ultimatum to Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet to decide on a move to north London by this week.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Tottenham Hotspur have set a deadline for Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet to decide on a possible transfer to the club in the ongoing transfer window.
Lenglet’s time at Barcelona is all but over, with the 27-year-old having fallen down the pecking order at the club over the past couple of seasons. The Frenchman finds himself behind Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia and Gerard Pique in the order of preference at Camp Nou. And with Barcelona on the verge of signing Andreas Christensen and planning to add another centre-back, Lenglet will fall further out of relevance at the club.
In addition, Barcelona are intent on getting rid of his high wages from their payroll, which has pushed the French ace on the brink of an exit. Lenglet has attracted interest from clubs in Italy and France, while Tottenham Hotspur have also been monitoring the former Sevilla ace over a possible loan move this summer.
Tottenham have made a positive start to the summer window, sealing three major transfers in the form of Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Yves Bissouma. Manager Antonio Conte is now focused on landing a new left-sided centre-half as an upgrade over Ben Davies, who performed decently in the position in the second half of the last season.
Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni was Conte and Tottenham’s top target, but a move for the Italian is off the table now. It has forced the north Londoners to look at other options, with Lenglet emerging as one such alternative. Talks have been held over a possible two-year loan deal with Barcelona, although the Lilywhites are reluctant to cover Lenglet’s entire wages.
AS Roma had also shown an interest, but have now dropped out of the race for Lenglet, leaving Tottenham as the most likely destination. However, the French international is yet to decide his future move, which has prompted Spurs to issue an ultimatum to the defender. As per the report, the Londoners want Lenglet to confirm his decision by this week as they wish to close their transfer business as early as possible.
It is further stated that Lenglet might now be leaning towards saying yes to Tottenham, as he is fast running out of options. As for the Premier League giants, they are still keeping their options open and have identified Piero Hincapie of Bayer Leverkusen as a possible target. The ball now lies in Lenglet’s court as Tottenham and Barcelona await a decision from the 27-year-old.