FC Barcelona are not satisfied with the role of one of their loanees this season, i.e. the defender Clement Lenglet. The Catalans want Lenglet to have a greater prominence this season, so his demand in the market can rise for the coming summer transfer window.
However, the defender has not got a prominent role in Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side as of now. The Frenchman has not played even a single minute in the Premier League up to now but has been a starter in the UEFA Conference League.
To mitigate the situation, Barcelona have been trying to loan him to another team for the second half of this season, and have already received interest from teams like AC Milan and Napoli from Italy and Real Betis and Sevilla from Spain.
But SPORT reports that Aston Villa are in no mood to cut short the defender’s loan, and thus are blocking his departure to any other side. The Premier League side believes that it would be difficult to find a guaranteed replacement for Lenglet in January, and thus are reluctant to part ways with him at this point in time.
Thus, while his move looks complicated for now, sources from Italy indicate that Milan can make an offer for the defender that convinces him, and will promise him a long-term contract if they are satisfied with his performances.
However, the Rossoneri are not willing to pay the full price for the Frenchman. But Barcelona are mainly interested in getting rid of his high wages and would be open to a transfer with a low fee if it guarantees a permanent move at the end of the season.
Lenglet has a contract that goes till 2026 with Barcelona, and he is the player with the highest salary in the club’s squad, mainly because of the deferrals that the club took because of the pandemic. Thus, offloading him can create significant space in the club’s wage bill to sign more players.
