Clement Lenglet: A New Redemption Arc Begins
Lenglet leaves Barcelona as a failure, Tottenham is his next destination
Reports from several journalists, including Fabrizio Romano, claim that Tottenham Hotspur will acquire Clement Lenglet through a loan.
It could be surprising to see the Spurs were interested in the defender from FC Barcelona, especially since they have been linked with other players like Alessandro Bastoni, Milan Skriniar or Joško Gvardiol, the French defender seems like a ‘better than nothing’ alternative, but is that so?
A market opportunity
Clement Lenglet is clearly not in his best form. He spent the most time of the past season on the bench, this and the economic needs of FC Barcelona have caused his value to drop.
Therefore, being just 27 years old, it could be an interesting operation for Tottenham since they would not be spending a large amount of money since the transfer formula would be through a loan. Something good considering that the French defender is a player who they can’t be sure that he will return to his best.
He has been a target of criticism from media and fans for important mistakes, especially committing penalties, committing 5 in the last 2 seasons, and in important moments that unfortunately cost points to his team. Lack of concentration, bad luck? Whatever it is, a new environment and the backing of his teammates, fans, and especially Antonio Conte can help him boost his confidence to try to get back to the player he once was.
Is He The Player Who Spurs Need?
Before commenting about the strengths and weaknesses of Lenlget, let's dive first into the impact of Antonio Conte since his arrival to the team of North London. One of the things that changed drastically was Spurs' defense, they even finished last season as the 4th team with fewer goals against, behind Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea.
But, this is not the only thing, with his classic back-three, he helped Ben Davies, Eric Dier, and Cristian Romero to develop their ball-carrying ability. According to The Analyst, they ranked in the top 10 for carrying distance per 90 minutes in Premier League centre-backs who played over 1000 minutes last season.
Not only this but they improved in their willingness to step out of defense, being hard pressing defenders on players in possession, notably Ben Davies and Cristian Romero, this has proved crucial to Tottenham when they are out of possession. Both rank in the Premier League top five for pressures and pressures on players in possession per 90 minutes.
Now, focusing on Clement Lenglet, he has the capacity (on paper) to fit into this role in a more proficient way than Ben Davies, since, he is a defender who is characterized by giving a very good first pass, and carrying the ball to break the pressure from the rival team.
In fact, according to FbRef, in the 2020–21 season, when he played the most matches with Barça, he was part of the top 8% in deep passes of all defenders in La Liga.
In addition to being a great passer and a good ball-carrier, Lenglet also gets the job done in defense. Coming back to the 2020–21 season, he was located in the top 4% of successful pressing, and he is also very efficient doing it in the three-thirds of the field, something that, as we saw, is key for Antonio Conte.
The Bottom Line
The reality is that Clement Lenglet is not the defender who Tottenham fans wanted, other more prominent names came up, so their disappointment is understandable. But there is no need to be sad because as we saw, at 27 years of age, the French defender can give a lot to this Spurs team and it could be that he is being a little bit underappreciated.
So, he may actually surprise some people in the upcoming season especially when he is trying to redeem himself from these failed years at Barça.
So, do you think Lenglet can take advantage of this opportunity at Tottenham or not? Let me know!
Thank you for reading! I will leave other stories below in case you may be interested, feel free to check them out:
