French center-back Clément Lenglet could be on his way to London and to N17 in particular, according to one Catalan source… Esport3 in Spain is quite animated about the odds of the 26-year-old left-back’s availability as far as Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is concerned.
Clément Lenglet’s heat map
The left-sided centre-back could be an option for Antonio Conte’s wing-back system as an upgrade on Ben Davies. The lad’s current contract with Barça runs until 2026.
I take a view that our main targets are somewhat higher up the footballing food chain, and that old Clément is most likely a Plan B type of strategy.
What’s of worth here, is that Tottenham’s weak area, its back line, is now clearly a matter of grave concern for Antonio Conte. For those who have emotionally invested in the likes of chancers such as Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon, my feeling is that this window may pinch somewhat.
Instead throwing your body at strikers taking shots, Davies has a lot to learn from Dier.
Haha
Pretty sure Harry is correct that Lenglet is not top of our list. But I like Paratici does have a list of players at each position… so we almost certainly will have a CDL who is anything from ‘good enough’ to brilliant before next season.
Yep. Bentancur playing with Hojbjerg or Skippy, if he ever gets back to fitness, will provide intelligent forward movement to break down deep sitters. Our issue has been trying to convert traditional full backs into wing backs that can operate in Conté’s system.
Doherty was turning a corner before he go unfortunately wiped out, but none of the remaining options are cutting the mustard. Sess and Davies average on the left at best, and RWB – well, Emerson…. I’d have preferred Aurier. God, I can’t believe I’ve had to say that.
To make this work, players who are proven in this system are what we need signed, and you can bet your children that Conté has made that abundantly clear to Levy et al. The recruitment team are going to have to earn their corn this summer. They’ll not know what’s hit them.
I hate to disagree (not really) but I think our backline was a strength down the stretch with many clean sheets.
I think we still struggle to break teams down that play in a deep box and that’s our biggest issue. So we need more quick ball movers. Benty and Kulu are a good start.
It’s becoming a trend now. Clubs are hiring players with an option to buy more and more. In fact a world where players are all free agents who ‘lease’ themselves out and/or are part owned nay an agent isn’t that far away. We might get to point where there is no permanent ownership of a player on a contract that binds them beyond their contractual obligations that covers their employment. Players may eventually no longer be an ‘asset’ owned by clubs, perhaps another third party even.
Spurs weak area is first and last five minutes of all games. Start slowly end slowly.
Loan deals with an option/obligation to buy (normally, but not always, obligations are contingent upon certain milestones being reached) are a way to de-risk transfers for all parties by giving an easy way for all parties not to conclude the deal if the reality didn’t match the hopes.
I see it as good recruitment policy and wise financial strategies.
Loan deals and free transfers. Are we seeing a pattern here?
Yeah,we should fire Conte and hire you
‘ear ‘ear
Not a fan of the silly 343. The problem with it is glaring. Instead of having 4 centerbacks 2 of the highest quality and 2 back up, the club has to 6 have centerbacks 3 specialist of the highest order to be in the first 11. Right now we have 5 with Rodon barely seeing action. So technically we are missing a cover for Dier. We need a Topsfield creative mid, a striker. Where is the money coming from without moving the deadwood.
I just watched a couple of impressive highlight reels of Lenglet and he was very highly rated when he first started at Barca. He seems to have lost confidence in the past 18 months under a manager who hasn’t played him much.
Nevertheless, in 2020, he had both successful tackles and successful pressures ranked in the 100th percentile in La Liga, with a 90%+ passer rating (83% long pass completion) and had the 2nd highest completed passes in La Liga. So the boy can tackle and he can pass!
His main reported weakness, lack of pace, would not be exposed under Conte’s defensive system. So he could be an excellent addition to the squad and given his skill set, probably cover DM, as well as CB. It would also not prevent us from signing Bastoni as first choice LCB.
To get Lenglet on loan might only require us to cover his (high) wages, there might even not be a loan fee ‘per se’. Which could be another master stroke from Paratici, same as Perisic, leaving Patagonia Joe’s loose change … pardon me …’war chest’ … intact for major purchases!
That sounds like a very accurate description of Dier. The problem with our back line is that with the exception of Romero, you could make a strong case that none of the rest are good enough to play in a top four side. If we are really interested in Lenglet, then perhaps it’s just because he’s a cheaper option to Bastoni who appears to be Conte’s first choice.
At least three defenders plus one, maybe two playmaker MF plus a striker. Not much of an ask for roles that shoulda been filled years ago.
Congratulations to Gareth Bale on his latest honour, well deserved.
‘What’s of worth here, is that Tottenham’s weak area, its back line, is now clearly a matter of grave concern for Antonio Conte.’
Yes. Too much pointing the finger at teammates and turning their backs to shots needs ironing out.