On-loan Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet is having little impact in the Midlands this season, but that does not mean Unai Emery does not value him as part of his squad. The Blaugrana had hoped to assure themselves some income from Lenglet either in this transfer window or next, but unless Aston Villa agree to break his loan agreement, then they will have to wait until at least the summer.
Bayern Munich were initially linked to Lenglet, as their defence suffers an injury crisis, but links to Bavaria have trailed off in recent weeks. Meanwhile Milan and Napoli have been most closely linked recently, but Sport assure that Real Betis and Sevilla are both considering a revival of their interest from last summer.
It all hinges on Villa though. Lenglet is yet to play a single Premier League minute this season, although he has played all of their Conference League games. The Catalan daily claim that Villa are reluctant to allow Lenglet out of the door, fearing they will not be able to find a reliable alternative at his level in January. Lenglet himself is keen to move.
It is not clear how much of Lenglet’s salary that Villa are paying – were it the majority of his wages, then they would probably be more keen to move him on, in spite of their financial strength. Their strong performance in the Premier League might tempt them to hold onto a deeper squad though too. It seems a number of teams will have to wait for a definitive answer.
