Saudi club now looking at Man City defender as Barcelona center-back drags his feet

 

There are only a few days left in this summer transfer window, and FC Barcelona still have to conclude some of the outgoing operations that the club aimed to complete in this window.

One such player that the Catalan club has been trying to offload throughout the summer is the French defender Clement Lenglet.

Lenglet spent the last season on loan at Tottenham, and had already agreed personal terms with the Premier League club for a permanent transfer.

However, Barcelona and Tottenham could not come to terms for his move, and recent days have seen other sides getting involved for a move of the Frenchman, including the Saudi club Al-Nassr.

Al-Nassr looking at other targets
Previously, it was reported that the Saudi side, Al-Nassr, is also interested in the Frenchman, and Barcelona also preferred Lenglet to move to Saudi Arabia, as this move would have provided Barcelona with up to €15 million in terms of transfer fee. In fact, the two clubs had also reached an agreement for Lenglet’s transfer.

However, SPORT now reports that Lenglet has not been too keen to move to Saudi Arabia, and Al-Nassr are now looking at Manchester City defender, Aymeric Laporte. In fact, the Saudi side is already closing in on an agreement with the City player, which can rule out Lenglet’s move to the Middle East.

Lenglet looking to stay in Europe
The report further mentions that Lenglet has been dragging on the negotiations with Al-Nassr as he wants to play in Europe for the near future, particularly with Tottenham.

However, as already mentioned, Barcelona and Tottenham have not been able to come to an agreement for the defender as the English side wants to pay only a token transfer fee, while Barcelona want around €15 million.

Meanwhile, if Al-Nassr end up signing Laporte, Barcelona will have to fast-track negotiations with other suitors of Lenglet to ensure his departure this summer.

The Frenchman has the highest wages in the Barcelona squad, and offloading him is of the highest priority currently at Barcelona. The club also has only around 15 days to complete the transfer.