Aston Villa are reportedly considering a move for Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet ahead of the transfer deadline on Friday.
The 28-year-old spent last season on loan at Tottenham and made 35 appearances, while he has featured 160 times for Barcelona following stints with Nancy and Sevilla.
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With 15 caps for France to his name too, Lenglet is an experienced defender with the ability to play on the left side of a centre-half pairing, and it appears as though he is on Villa’s radar this week.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Villa are ‘weighing up’ a move for the Frenchman, and it’s suggested that talks could take place in the coming days to determine if a deal can be done.
It’s added that Barcelona believe Lenglet will leave in this window, but time will tell if it is to join us, or if we ultimately look at other options if an agreement can’t be reached. Importantly, it’s worth noting that there is no mention of any terms of a potential deal yet in relation to whether it would be a loan move or permanent transfer.
While Lenglet perhaps didn’t have the most impressive of spells at Spurs, he does offer experience and a good depth option at the back, with Villa perhaps still needing a bit more in that department for the season ahead.
We did of course lose Tyrone Mings to a significant knee injury and he could now miss the entire campaign, and so adding competition and cover for the likes of Pau Torres and Diego Carlos could be a sensible move.
Depending on the agreement, it may well be a smart temporary swoop to fill that void for just this season until Mings is back, and with Lenglet’s experience of playing in Europe and the Premier League, coupled with Emery’s influence and ability to improve players as we’ve seen since he took charge at Villa, it may be a surprisingly positive move.
Admittedly, it’s not one that will get supporters too excited, but given the additions made already this summer and back in January, Villa’s recruitment under Emery has been positive and made a key difference, and so if it is indeed Lenglet who arrives, there’s little doubt it will work out to be a savvy addition and a good fit for our system and style of play.