“Aston Villa are pleased to announce the loan of French international Clément Lenglet. The centre-back joins Villa from Barcelona and returns to the Premier League after spending last season on loan at Tottenham Hotspur.. Returning from his loan at Spurs this summer and courted in France, but especially in England, Clément Lenglet, unwanted by the Culers, finally decided to join the Villans on September 1. Yes, but finding a photo of the French international (15 caps, 1 goal) with the jersey of the current 5th in the Premier League is proving very complicated today. And for good reason…
Almost uncontested holder under the orders of Antonio Conte, during the previous exercise, the 1m86 left-hander, in the sights of Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago, is now struggling to find a place in the squad. ‘Unai Emery. Worse still, former Sevilla FC and AS defender Nancy Lorraine has still not set foot on the Premier League pitches. Relegated to the bench during the five matches in which he was available, he ultimately only played two small Conference League matches since his arrival in Birmingham. A record far too meager for someone who hoped to complete a second full year in His Majesty’s Kingdom.
A return to Barça seems inevitable!
Relegated to the hierarchy, Clément Lenglet thus sees Pau Torres, recruited for 45 million euros this summer, Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos start a series of tenures. In the absence of the former FC Nantes defender against Crystal Palace, Chelsea then Brighton, Unai Emery did not change his plans, leaving the Beauvais native on the sidelines. A delicate situation, which should put an end to its last hopes of participating in Euro 2024, organized in Germany from June 14 to July 14. Shunned by Didier Deschamps since November 2021, Clément Lenglet must also face enormous competition in his position (Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté, Lucas Hernandez, William Saliba, Axel Disasi, etc.).
With almost non-existent playing time under his new colors, his chances of regaining the tricolor jersey therefore seem, today, more than compromised. It now remains to be seen whether the former Paris Saint-Germain technician will decide to offer him more playing time in the coming weeks. If a first element of response will be given with the reception of the Hammers, a return to Catalonia next summer seems, for the moment, inevitable. To the great misfortune of the Blaugranas, who were ready to do anything to part with it…
