Clément Lenglet’s future is set to be away from Aston Villa, according to a ‘confidential’ report from today’s edition of Sport.
The Premier League side took the defender on loan from Barcelona last summer and he found it difficult to enter into Unai Emery’s plans in the first few months of this season.
On Monday, Lenglet revealed that he almost left Aston Villa in the winter market, after receiving approaches from a few other clubs.
The 28-year-old, who made his first league appearance in December, has featured 13 times in the Premier League this season. He hasn’t made an appearance since the Villans’ defeat to Manchester City at the start of this month.
Aston Villa don’t have an option or obligation to make the centre-back’s stay permanent and the newspaper states he ‘will not continue’ at Villa Park beyond this season.
Prior to joining Emery’s side, the Frenchman had already received offers from Saudi Arabia, including one from Al-Nassr. He rejected them in order to continue in Europe, but the situation could be different in the summer window.
In recent weeks, there was a meeting between the Saudi clubs and the La Liga side to discuss the market issues.
Sport state Barca are keen to sell Lenglet and after his ‘ostracism in the Premier League’, the doors could open for him to make a switch to the Middle East.
Of course, selling Lenglet to a Saudi club would be just what Barcelona want, which will encourage the Catalan media to try and dream this into reality. It may well work!