Aston Villa set to sign Clement Lenglet

Aston Villa have agreed on a loan deal with Barcelona to take defender Clement Lenglet without a buy option included.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Aston Villa will sign Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan deal from Barcelona. The Spanish giants were desperate to make space in their wage bill, and now the Premier League side will take over a chunk of the 28-year-old’s salary.

Aston Villa have had a tremendous transfer window so far and brought in some notable names. Those included Moussa Diaby, Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans for decent fees. So far, the only black mark on their season was the potential season-ending injury to Tyrone Mings.

With the centre-back now set to miss a chunk of a season, Aston Villa re-entered the market for a new defender. With most of their squad settled, Unai Emery will have needed to utilise the market for a new central defender.

They had opened talks with Barcelona for Clement Lenglet to bring the experienced defender. The 28-year-old Frenchman had a modest loan spell at Tottenham last season and knows the Premier League well. He seemed eager to make a return, but Spurs could not agree on a permanent move with the Catalans for the defender.

Barcelona may have wanted a permanent transfer, but recently opened the possibility of a loan move. Lenglet has since attracted considerable interest from Spain, including former side Sevilla. The Frenchman seems keen to return to the Premier League, and now Aston Villa has agreed on a loan move with Barcelona.

As per Fabrizio Romano, the 28-year-old Barcelona man will complete his move to Villa Park soon and undergo his medicals. The agreement does not consist of a buy option, which could see Lenglet return to Spain next summer.

Villa will also cover 75% of Lenglet’s wages, as per Romano, which will boost Barcelona’s coffers in their attempt to reduce the wage bill. The Catalans are in deep financial troubles with the FFP and will have to cull in places to make new additions.

For Villa, signing Lenglet on a loan deal without any strings attached is excellent. They could use the Frenchman’s experience in their European adventure and as a different option in the Premier League. He would have learned sufficiently after playing with Tottenham as a regular and now will bring that expertise to Emery’s side.