As more days continue to pass in the summer transfer window, FC Barcelona continue to accelerate their operations. Financial fair play is still a hurdle that the Catalans must overcome, and departures are being sorted to do so. However, many operations concerning Barcelona are not getting completed quickly enough.
Despite many different sales currently being processed, the Catalan giants need to offload huge salaries in order to make room for new ones. The arrival of new signings and the registration of current players are both dependant on these sales, and Barcelona is aware of this.
That is why, beyond just the departures of both Ilkay Gundogan and Mikayil Faye, the club is working on other exits as well. One of the operations that seems to have taken way longer than the club would have ideally wanted was the one concerning French defender Clement Lenglet.
Fortunately, even that deal seems to be sorted out by now. According to the ever-reliable Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, 29-year-old French defender Clement Lenglet will be joining La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid for a season-long loan deal while also extending his current Barcelona contract for another year.
The exact details provided suggest that the player will extend his contract for one year until 2027, allowing Barça to divide paying out his salary across a longer time period, and in turn he has been allowed to go on loan to another Spanish team that will cover a major part of his salary for this season.
Furthermore, his medical tests are scheduled for tomorrow and the player will then officially be presented as a new Atletico Madrid player at some later stage. As for FC Barcelona, the priority is to now register their players first and foremost after which they can look to potentially sign new players as well.
The likes of Federico Chiesa are still on their agenda, and it remains to be seen what becomes of that operation. For now, the deal concerning Lenglet becomes just the latest departure that the Catalan giants have been working on apart from the other players who have been let go of for financial reasons.
