Departures are considered an absolute necessity for FC Barcelona before the end of the summer transfer window if the Catalans hope to be able to incorporate all their players within the records of La Liga, as well as have the ability to pursue other signings as they hope to.
Having already managed to loan American fullback Sergino Dest off to Dutch side PSV, Barcelona are now looking to repeat the same formula with another one of their out-of-favor defenders, French center-back Clement Lenglet, before the end of the window on the first of September.
According to Spanish outlet SPORT, FC Barcelona consider Lenglet’s options to leave an open case at the moment given the choices at his disposal. The primary destinations that the Catalan club continues to assess and negotiate with are fellow La Liga outfit Sevilla and English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
The latter was the club where Lenglet already spent last season on loan at, having made 35 appearances for the club based in London. Ideally, Barcelona would have hoped to reach a permanent conclusion for the transfer of Lenglet with Spurs, but it appears to be a possibility well beyond the reach of the ongoing negotiations.
Another option previously open to both the player and Barcelona was that of Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr, who were not just willing to provide Lenglet a better economic package than every other interested club but also willing to pay up to €15 million as a transfer fee for the 28-year-old, the price that Barca had valued him at.
Despite the appealing conditions of the Saudi Arabian proposal, Lenglet ended up rejecting the chance to go to the Middle East as he reportedly aspires to continue wanting to succeed in Europe rather than leave it behind.
However, the club that most reports point to as the advanced option is Sevilla. Lenglet’s previous club before he arrived in FC Barcelona during the 2018/2019 season, the Frenchman was sold by Sevilla to Barca for a fee in the region of €35 million.
Moving further into the current timeline, however, Sevilla are only willing to take the player back temporarily on a loan deal. Moreover, the La Liga side is not willing to nor capable of paying up the entirety of Lenglet’s current salary.
Already significant as it is, his current salary also includes all the deferred payments he is owed following the signing of his contract extension during the pandemic. Consequently, Barcelona are hoping to find the right destination to offload the player to so that at least the amount of his salary can be saved by the club moving forward.
