Aston Villa will reportedly pay Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet £200,000-a-week before tax as the former Tottenham Hotspur loanee closes in on a return to the Premier League.
Imagine, Clement Lenglet, Pau Torres and Diego Carlos as your options for the left-sided centre-back role. That is, as they say, the kind of greed they talked about in the bible.
After seeing his return to Tottenham ki-boshed – Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou reportedly has his doubts about the France international – Lenglet is closing in on a deal that will see him join Unai Emery’s Aston Villa revolution instead.
According to Fabrizio Romano, both Barcelona and the player himself have agreed to accept Aston Villa’s offer of a season-long loan. Sport, meanwhile, claim that the Midland giants will cover 75 per cent of Lenglet’s salary.
Aston Villa set to sign Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet
That means Aston Villa are set to pay him around £10 million until the summer of 2024. Or £200,000-a-week, if you like, albeit before tax.
That will immediately put Lenglet among Villa’s highest earners. Barcelona, meanwhile, will just be glad to get the £30 million signing from Sevilla off the wage bill. Lenglet has lost his place – and his number 15 shirt – to former Chelsea stopper Andreas Christensen.
Lenglet’s arrival, meanwhile, should offset the loss of Tyrone Mings to what looks to be a season-ending injury. Mings was stretchered off just minutes into that 5-1 opening day hammering by Newcastle United. As if Villa’s campaign could not have started any worse.
“Without Tyrone and Emiliano (Buendia), the squad is weaker,” Emery tells Sky Sports. “We want to finish the transfer window with a strong structure in our squad. We want to be competitive in all competitions. (Villa) have to be aware and ready if something could improve our squad.”
Aston Villa have already compensated for Buendia’s departure by landing Nicolo Zaniolo from Galatasaray.
