Barcelona’s Clément Lenglet is set to complete a loan move to Aston Villa on deadline day, according to Sport.
The two clubs agreed a deal on Wednesday and the defender made a trip to England on Thursday to carry out a medical and other transfer formalities with the Villans.
It’s claimed the centre-back is an ‘express request’ of Unai Emery, who believes he can perform well in the Premier League and also help Aston Villa ‘grow’.
Barcelona have been trying to get rid of the 28-year-old throughout the window and their initial plan was to cash in from his sale.
They didn’t receive convincing offers from European clubs and the Frenchman’s refusal to accept a move to Saudi Arabia has forced the La Liga side to allow him to leave on loan.
Sevilla tried to sign the defender late in the window but the deal proposed by them wasn’t accepted by the Catalan club.
Sport state: ‘Luckily for Barça, Emery’s presence in the remodelled Aston Villa project opened an unexpected path.’
Lenglet, for his part, also realised he couldn’t wait any longer in order to avoid being left on the bench until January. Therefore, he has accepted to join the Villans, who will pay 75% of his wages.
The operation is so advanced that Sport say Lenglet ‘can now be considered for practically all purposes a new Aston Villa player.’
Marca also state the former Sevilla man has completed his medical tests with Aston Villa and the only thing that’s missing is for the two clubs to make the transfer official.
