Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo is claiming that FC Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet is expected to join Tottenham Hotspur but talks between the two clubs seem to have hit a brick wall.
Clement Lenglet has been with Barcelona since 2018 but ever since Xavi’s arrival, the defender has fallen down the pecking order and last season, he was sent out on loan to Spurs.
He had a mixed campaign with the Lilywhites but their new manager has decided to make the loan deal permanent instead of looking for a new central defender. However, the two clubs cannot seem to agree on the terms of the sale which is why the 28-year-old will now return to Camp Nou and join Barca’s pre-season training camp.
Barcelona had paid around €36 million to Sevilla for Lenglet’s signings and over the years, he’s played in only 160 games for the club across all competitions. His current contract with FCB expires in 2026 and his updated market value stands at €10 million.
Why are Spurs yet to bring back the FC Barcelona defender?
He played in 26 EPL games for Tottenham last season and much like all the other players, Lenglet was also very average. Last season’s games isn’t a great benchmark to judge him but overall, the France international can add value to the Spurs squad, especially when they are in a rebuilding phase.
Daniel Levy is known to be a very meagre spender which is why he wants to bring back the Barcelona man instead of spending around €30-40 million on an top-quality left-sided centre-back.
Currently, Spurs want to sign Clement Lenglet for €10 million but Barcelona are said to be holding out for around €15 million which seems to be a fair enough price because the 28-year-old still has three years left on his contract.
If these rumours are true then the Tottenham chairman is actually haggling for a €5 million discount which is a big shameful for the North London club.
Joan Laporta was hopeful that Tottenham Hotspur will reach an agreement with Barcelona over Lenglet’s move but the talks seem to have hit a major hurdle.
If the negotiations fully break down between the two sides then Clement Lenglet won’t mind staying at Barcelona for one more season and as far as Tottenham are concerned, they had previously marked out Wolves’ Max Kilman and Galatasaray’s Victor Nelsson as alternatives to Lenglet so they will probably go after one of them.
The North London side have already made concrete moves for Nelsson in the previous few days and this could be a slight hint that they are slowly backing out of the Lenglet deal.
