Barcelona has a few moving parts in their business plans that need to be handled as the January transfer window approaches.
As they prepare for Vitor Roque’s arrival, they still have a lot of financial concerns to work out, one of which being the Clement Lenglet predicament.
According to SPORT, Barcelona is concerned about the French defender and how his loan stay at Aston Villa is progressing.
Yet to make his Premier League debut
Having played three UEFA Europa Conference League games under Unai Emery, the Frenchman is yet to make his Premier League debut with Villa after eleven games have been played.
It is surprising, given that Lenglet did rack up Premier League experience with Tottenham during his loan spell in the previous season, but it seems as though he has not convinced Unai Emery.
Lenglet was on the market all summer and it seemed that his final destination would be Tottenham finalising a permanent deal for him.
The Blaugrana club pushed hard for a sale, but their asking price of around 15 million euros was too expensive for Spurs, as was his sky-high salary.
Barça were also pushing Lenglet towards a move to Saudi Arabia, but due to the Frenchman’s desire to continue in Europe, that did not materialise either.
As of now, since Villa are taking off the wage load at least temporarily, there is no intention of cutting his loan deal short.
However, Barcelona are concerned that his lack of game time is further devaluing the player, which is difficult for the Catalans as they cannot afford to house his return due to the salary mass, which is even higher due to deferred payments.
If his trajectory continues like this, the club may have to recall him in January to try and hurry a sale, as there is no spot for him in the squad anymore, given the quality of the rest of Barcelona’s defenders.