Barcelona reportedly fear that Clement Lenglet is turning down a move to Saudi Arabia as he waits for Tottenham Hotspur to offer him a Premier League return.
Will the Frenchman’s patience pay off? Or is he simply wasting his time, awaiting an offer destined to never arrive.
You may be forgiven for suspecting that, if Tottenham Hotspur were serious about bringing Clement Lenglet back to North London, they would have done so already. Then again, coming to an agreement to sign the former Sevilla stopper on a permanent basis is not exactly straightforward.
As Sport point out, Lenglet would have to accept a sizeable pay cut if he is to re-join a Spurs side he represented on loan in 2022/23. What’s more, with Barcelona attempting to push Lenglet in the direction of Saudi Arabia, further complications have arisen in a saga which continues to rumble on into the final two weeks of the window.
Clement Lenglet could still re-join Tottenham Hotspur
Barca, Sport add, had hoped to sell Lenglet to Al Nassr. There are ‘fears’, however, that their £35 million misfit is holding out for Tottenham; rebuffing those Middle Eastern advances as Al Nassr turn their attention to Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte.
There is also interest in Man United misfit Eric Bailly.
“Lenglet’s position makes Barca think that the Frenchman is fully prioritising a return to Tottenham,” Sport add.
There are further complications, meanwhile, surrounding the size of Lenglet’s price tag. Tottenham have little interest in stumping up the sort of fee Al Nassr may have been happy to part with. Barcelona hope to recoup at least £13 million of their investment.
Lenglet played 35 times under Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini and Mason Mount last term. Opportunities may be harder to come by should he return to the English capital, however. Tottenham signed fellow left-footer Micky Van de Ven from VFL Wolfsburg in a deal worth £34 million earlier in August.
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