Tottenham will not sign Clement Lenglet ‘on a permanent baisis’ when his loan deal expires, according to a club insider, and will instead focus on a major center-back upgrade.
Clement Lenglet joined Tottenham on loan from Barcelona in the summer after the club failed to sign any of their main targets. He has now started five of their last six games and has been very impressive.
But despite his great form, Spurs insider John Wenham told Football Insider that the club is not looking for a permanent deal for the defender and that he will ‘harshly’ be sent back to the Spanish club. He said:
“I have said that I am a fan of Lenglet. In the summer, it was made abundantly clear, Tottenham leaked it to selected journalists, that we were looking to upgrade the side.
“We were looking for a top table defender, Bastoni, Gvardiol. Davies is a little bit below that level and I think Lenglet is the same level as Davies.”
Wenham further argued that Lenglet is not an improvement to the quality they already have and compared him to be as good as Davies. This is why he thinks the club will not be convinced to keep him and would be going for a bigger upgrade instead.
He continued:
“I feel a bit bad saying this but Lenglet is not an improvement on what we have got. He is as good as Davies and that’s fine for a team who are finishing in the top four.”
“That’s a compliment to him because Davies has been playing in the Premier League for 10 years. But he is not pushing us like Dier or Romero does.
“It’s a bit harsh on him but I think he will play this season and do well but now Davies counts as homegrown in Champions League squads and Lenglet is only on loan, I could see us going in for another top-level centre-back.
“Lenglet will be told thanks for everything and will go on his way. That is harsh because he’s good and I like him but he isn’t better than what we have.”
Come summer, Spurs will once again be linked with a host of centre-back options with one of them being Josko Gvardiol who has already been said to be Conte’s main target. According to Football Insider, Conte has set his eyes on the Croatia international who has a ‘£44million’ release clause. The report also names Chelsea and Leeds United as the two other Premier League clubs interested in him.