Mateu Alemany could make selling Clement Lenglet to Tottenham Hotspur one of his final acts at Barcelona before taking over at Premier League outfit Aston Villa.
After two years at the Camp Nou, Barca’s director of football could be on his way to Villa Park. The Midland giants, according to The Athletic, are ‘finalising’ a deal that would see Unai Emery joined by another highly-experienced Spaniard.
One who would undoubtedly boost Aston Villa’s hopes of signing a host of La Liga talent; Ferran Torres, Samu Chukwueze and Nico Williams among those reportedly on Emery’s radar.
Mateu Alemany is leaving Barcelona for Aston Villa
Alemany will leave the Camp Nou on June 30th. He still has around seven weeks, then, to find a club willing to take Lenglet off Barca’s hands.
Alemany still has an important role to play in Barcelona’s summer plans; the La Liga leaders once again under pressure to raise funds via player sales. And Lenglet, after falling behind Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso, is not part of Xavi’s plans at the Camp Nou.
Sport claimed at the end of April that Tottenham were holding a fresh round of talks with the France international, Lenglet impressing during a season on loan in North London. The departures of Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici may have raised doubts regarding Lenglet’s future but it is understood that Spurs are still looking to press ahead with a deal that could set them back around £10 million.
Sport now add that Alemany could come to an agreement over Lenglet’s future before his Barca tenure is over in less than two months’ time.
Is Clement Lenglet staying at Spurs?
“Clement is a really good player,” Conte told The Standard in December. “Don’t forget that we are talking someone who played five years in Barcelona. When you play for many years in this type of club, it means that you are a good player.
“And when I spoke with him in the summer, I was very clear with him; ‘if you decide to play you have to come with us, you will play’. A really good player good personality, technically and good choices in the game.
“I can tell you that he was a big surprise for me in a positive way; His attitude, commitment, behaviour.
“He’s always 120 per cent during the training sessions.”
Lenglet featured solely as a left-sided centre-half in a back-three under Conte. He is versatile and intelligent enough to adapt to a new formation under a new manager, however. And the chance to bring in a defensive southpaw for a fraction of the fees demanded for other left-sided centre-halves may be too good to turn down.
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