Barcelona might terminate the contract of 28-year-old out-of-favour French defender Clement Lenglet in the summer transfer window.
According to a report by Barca Universal, Clement Lenglet might become a free agent in the summer transfer window. The 15-cap French international has no future at FC Barcelona. And the reigning La Liga champions are mulling over the prospect of terminating his contract after his loan stint with Aston Villa ends.
Clement Lenglet and his journey on the rocky road
Clement Lenglet has endured a dramatic fall from grace in the last few years. The 28-year-old was one of the best defenders in La Liga when he joined Barcelona from Sevilla in July 2018. He did not take much time to establish a foothold in the Catalan club’s first-team squad.
However, the early high of Lenglet’s Barcelona stint soon disappeared, and he steadily fell in stature at Camp Nou. By the end of the 2021/22 season, he was a peripheral figure for the Blaugrana. So, it was hardly surprising when Barcelona loaned the Frenchman out to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window of 2022.
Lenglet enjoyed a decent spell with Tottenham, but the North London club did not complete a permanent move last summer. Instead, another loan spell to the Premier League beckoned, with Aston Villa securing his services for the 2023/24 season. However, the French international, who has turned out 15 times for Les Bleus, has been in and out of the starting lineup under Unai Emery.
The 28-year-old Frenchman has managed less than 2,000 minutes of game time across 23 outings in all competitions thus far this term. However, recent reports suggested that Aston Villa could still complete a permanent move for Clement Lenglet. But that notion is seemingly unlikely.
What happens this summer?
The latest update has suggested that Aston Villa will unlikely complete a permanent move for Lenglet. That is not sitting well with Barcelona, with the Blaugrana mulling over terminating the 15-cap French international’s contract after his loan spell with Aston Villa ends.
So, Lenglet’s fortunes have dramatically swung from being the first-choice centre-back to potentially leaving the club as a free agent. It will be interesting to see if contract termination is Barcelona’s solution to the Lenglet problem.
