Clement Lenglet looks set to become Tottenham Hotspur’s fifth signing of the summer transfer window.
The Barcelona centre-back is closing in on a season-long loan to Antonio Conte’s Spurs.
Conte had made it clear that he wanted a left-footed centre-halve to bolster his backline and the France international looks to be the man that will grant the Italian his wish.
The 27-year-old will join fellow new signings Fraser Forster, Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison in north London.
Following his £32m signing from Sevilla four years ago, Lenglet made 160 appearances for Barca, but he found game time hard to come by under Nou Camp legend Xavi.
The 15-time France international only started seven La Liga games last season and following the arrival of Andreas Christensen, Lenglet was only going to fall further down the pecking order if he remained in Catalonia.
Lenglet, a La Liga winner, could join Cristian Romero and Eric Dier in Conte’s three-man backline.
With Lenglet’s move to the capital close to completion, HITC Sport takes a look at seven players who have played for Tottenham and Barcelona.
Players who have played for Tottenham and Barcelona
Gary Lineker
After spending a prolific season at Everton, which brought 35 goals, the former Leicester City man joined Barcelona in 1986 and won the Spanish Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup with Blaugrana during a three-year spell.
The 1986 World Cup golden boot winner scored 51 goals from 138 games for the Spanish giants before making the switch back to England with Spurs.
Lineker, now the presenter of Match of the Day, spent three seasons as a Tottenham player before moving to Japan.
He scored 43 goals from 81 games, won the FA Cup and was named the club’s player of the year for the 1991-92 campaign.
He finished his international career with 48 goals from 80 caps for England. Only Bobby Charlton, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney have scored more times for the Three Lions.
Gheorghe Popescu
The 115-time Romania international spent a solitary season with Spurs following his arrival from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.
Popsecu played 27 times for Tottenham before joining Barcelona in 1995 where he stayed for two years before heading to Turkey with Galatasaray.
The six-time Romanian footballer of the year won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup with Barca, as well as the Spanish Cup and two Spanish Super Cups.
He played 94 times for the Catalans, from which he scored 13 goals.
Giovanni dos Santos
The Mexican was touted to be one of the best talents to emerge from La Masia, but after 38 appearances for the Barcelona first team, dos Santos headed for the Premier League after being signed by Spurs.
But less than a year into his time at White Hart Lane and the left-footer was sent out on loan to Ipswich Town.
The speedy forward had loan spells with Galatasaray and Racing Santander before joining Real Mallorca on a permanent deal in 2012.
The 107-time Mexico international made 33 appearances for Spurs and scored three goals. The 33-year-old is currently a free agent.
Emerson Royal
The right-back, who is one of several Brazilians to have represented Tottenham, moved to London from Barcelona last summer in a deal worth £26m.
Barcelona had re-signed Emerson from Real Betis, but he only made three first-team appearances for the Nou Camp giants.
The 23-year-old made 41 appearances for Spurs last season, but with Conte looking likely to sign Middlesbrough and England Under-21 right-back Djed Spence, who impressed during his season-long loan with newly-promoted Nottingham Forest, Emerson has been linked with a move to Atletico Madrid.
Kevin-Prince Boateng
The mercurial Ghanaian joined Tottenham from Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin in 2007 and the attacking midfielder spent 18 months in the squad before being loaned out to Borussia Dortmund.
Boateng, who was part of Spurs’ 2008 League Cup winning side, would later join Portsmouth before embarking on spells with the likes of AC Milan, Schalke and Las Palmas.
In January 2019 while at Serie A side Sassuolo, Boateng joined Barcelona on loan for the remainder of the campaign and made four appearances for the eventual La Liga champions.
Boateng returned to Hertha last summer, but the 35-year-old is set to retire at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Paulinho
The Brazilian was one of several players Andre Villas-Boas brought to Tottenham following Gareth Bale’s world-record £85m departure to Real Madrid.
Like many of the players Spurs bought that summer, Paulinho struggled and after 67 appearances for the club he moved to the Chinese Super League.
After two years with Guangzhou, the all-action midfielder sealed a big-money move to Barcelona, but he hadn’t been in Spain for a year before returning to Guangzhou on a permanent deal, following an initial loan spell.
From 49 games for the Catalans, Paulinho scored nine goals and won La Liga. In his two stints in China, the 33-year-old has scored 75 goals and laid on 28 assists from 176 games for the club.
Eidur Gudjohnsen
Following six fruitful years at Chelsea which saw the seven-time Iceland footballer of the year win back-to-back Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho, the former Bolton Wanderers man headed for Barcelona.
Gudjohnsen spent three seasons with Barca and was part of the star-studded Pep Guardiola side that won the Treble in 2008-09 which included beating Manchester United in the Champions League final.
The striker played 114 times for Barcelona, scoring 19 goals and supplying ten assists before heading for France with Monaco.
Halfway through his first season in Ligue 1, Gudjohnsen moved back to England after joining Tottenham on loan for the remainder of the 2009-10 campaign.
Gudjohnsen, who also had spells with Stoke City and Fulham, scored two goals in 14 appearances for Spurs.
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