Everton tried to bring Clement Lenglet to the Premier League before Barcelona snapped up the French defender from La Liga rivals Sevilla.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele have been hogging the headlines and humiliating defenders all season long but, once again, much of Barcelona’s success has been built on a solid back line.
But Gerard Pique has not spent the season marshalling the defence alongside World Cup winner Samuel Umtiti or experienced Belgian Thomas Vermaelen.
Instead, Clement Lenglet, a £32 million signing from Sevilla last summer (BBC), has made the step up with ease and established himself as one of Europe’s very best centre-halves.
The former Nancy captain has played 40 games in all competitions and his debut season at the Camp Nou could end in a treble.
Barca are on the verge of a second successive La Liga title, they’re potentially 90 minutes away from winning the Copa del Rey, while preparing to take on Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
But just imagine how different things could’ve been for this as-yet uncapped Frenchman. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo last August, Everton’s director of football Marcel Brands admitted that he wanted to bring Lenglet to Goodison Park before Barca won the race.
“From the beginning we had (Yerry) Mina on our list and Lenglet on our list but he went to Barcelona quite early in the market so it was quite simple for us: go for Mina,” Brands told the Echo.
Everton have turned around their form in recent weeks but the best they can hope for this season is a seventh place Premier League finish. Needless to say, Lenglet won’t have many regrets now about choosing Barcelona over Merseyside.
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