REPORTS: Spurs still working with Barcelona on permanent deal for Lenglet

The links that connect Tottenham Hotspur with Clement Lenglet are not going away anytime soon. There have been murmurs for weeks now that Spurs were interested in signing the French CB, who spent the past season on loan from Barcelona, on a permanent basis, but only for the right price.

The club announced that Lenglet was returning to his home club at the conclusion of his loan, but today Fabrizio Romano tweeted quotes from Barca president Joan Laporta that suggested the clubs are still in talks.

I found the original article — a long interview with Laporta that contains a single mention of Lenglet and Tottenham.

“I think that with Tottenham we will reach an agreement for Lenglet. We also need Dest. This almost never goes fast. It depends on the other party. For us, they are all cases that would have been solved yesterday.”

— Joan Laporta

That’s not much to go on but when it comes from the President of Barcelona, it’s enough to make you take notice. That said, there are indications that a move for Lenglet would be in addition to Spurs’ other CB priorities and not supplanting them. Tottenham are currently working towards signing one or both of Edmond Tapsoba from Bayer Leverkusen, and Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg. It sounds like Lenglet’s signing would not supplant either of those deals.

I don’t know how much it would cost to sign Lenglet, but I doubt it would be much. There are speculative reports in the Spanish media suggesting Barcelona are asking €15m Barcelona clearly want him gone, and Spurs seem content to keep him on if the fee is reasonable. Lenglet’s profile as a ball-playing central defender makes him an interesting and perhaps attractive choice for Ange Postecoglou’s system, but with so few minutes coming next season and Spurs focusing on signing other defenders I can’t believe he’d be a first choice option.

Signing Lenglet also speaks to the monumental job Spurs have yet to do to offload players this summer. Just focusing on central defense, Tottenham are probably looking at trying to sell or loan Davinson Sanchez, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga, and could be open to offers for Eric Dier and Ben Davies. That’s a lot of turnover, so perhaps having some continuity from Lenglet wouldn’t be a bad thing.

This isn’t confirmation that Lenglet is coming — just that talks are continuing. But I don’t think I’d hate it if it happens, so long as Spurs are also working on another first choice option alongside Cuti Romero.