Aston Villa and Barcelona are reportedly in ongoing discussions over the terms of a deal to sign defender Clement Lenglet ahead of the transfer deadline.
The 28-year-old has made 160 appearances for the Catalan giants since joining them from Sevilla in 2018, while he spent last season on loan at Tottenham where he featured 35 times.
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Having since returned to the La Liga champions, speculation is rife over his future again, and Villa have been paired with an interest in the French international.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the two clubs are discussing conditions of a deal, and it’s suggested that it will be a loan move and negotiations are centred around who will cover Lenglet’s salary while with us.
It’s added that Villa ‘are advancing’, and so although no agreement has been reached as of yet, it does sound as though progress has been made since the initial report of our interest.
A move for Lenglet would make a lot of sense, as he brings experience, the ability to provide competition and depth as well as balance when involved given his preferred position on the left side of a centre-half pairing.
Having featured in the Premier League last season, his adaptation should be quick and relatively straight-forward, and while Villa will have identified him as an ideal addition for our system and style of play, he will also have the benefit of being coached by Emery, who has improved almost every player at his disposal since he arrived.
In turn, their judgement should be trusted if they feel Lenglet is the best option to address a crucial need in the squad, as with Tyrone Mings set to miss most of the season, we need to add depth and cover at the back, especially if Pau Torres, Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa all play regularly together in the starting XI.
Trying to predict our line-up for Thursday’s second leg meeting with Hibernian has been difficult as Emery won’t be able to rest all of his key figures unless he promotes our youngsters, and so this would be a potentially sensible signing on a temporary basis to cover the absence of Mings, and to ensure we have enough available in what will hopefully be a successful season.