Barcelona have long been after Clement Lenglet and the Sevilla defender will officially become a player of the Catalan club today, if a report from Sport is to be believed.
An earlier report from the same publication cited the La Liga winners will sign the centre-back on July 1st. They decided to complete the operation this month so that his transfer fee will be incorporated in the 2018/19 financial year.
Sport claims since July 1st was Sunday, Barcelona had to wait until today to make the deal for Lenglet official. Sevilla tried to keep hold of the 23-year-old by making a counter-offer to extend his contract.
However, the former Nancy player has rejected the offer from Sevilla, and has decided to make a ‘big leap’ in his career and wants to join the Spanish champions. Lenglet will be Barcelona’s first signing of the summer transfer window.
The Frenchman has a release clause of €30-35m, depending on report. Barcelona may try to see if there’s a way they can spread the payments out over a longer period than this summer.
Barcelona already agreed a deal with Gremio for Arthur in March. As a part of the agreement, the La Liga winners have an option of bringing the South American to the club, either in the summer or in January 2019.