After spending the last two seasons on loan in the Premier League, first with Tottenham Hotspurs and then with Aston Villa, Clement Lenglet once again left Barcelona last summer to join Atletico Madrid on loan.
However, he now remains the only summer addition to Diego Simeone’s squad who is yet to make his debut with the Mattress Makers, as other signings like Julian Alvarez, Connor Gallagher, Robin Le Normand, Alexander Sorloth, and Juan Musso have all played their first minutes, and some of them are already being important for Simeone.
In Lenglet’s position, Simeone has mostly played Cesar Azpilicueta and Reinildo Mandava. As Mundo Deportivo has reported, this situation of the French defender was one of the topics addressed by the Atletico Madrid manager as he spoke to the press ahead of his side’s match against Rayo Vallecano.
The Argentine manager clarified that Lenglet can make his debut soon and shared his honest verdict about him: “Sure, he can definitely get some minutes before the October break, just like the other players who are ready to compete. He’s working really hard on what we need from him. He has to become aware of what we require in that position.”
“He’s a humble player, hardworking, with an absolute drive to improve. As coaches, we like having a player with that kind of motivation to get better. We enjoy having a player with the intention to improve as a footballer. From there, he has to compete with Reinildo, Robin, Axel, and José, who are also in good form.”
Thus, as Diego Simeone made it quite clear, Lenglet has a lot of competition, and will have to work extremely hard to get an important position in the squad. However, the praise from his manager will help the 29-year-old Barcelona loanee remain in high spirits in such a difficult time, and looks forward to getting his first minutes with Atletico.
