Barcelona centre-back Clement Lenglet has joined Atletico Madrid on loan for this season, with no buy option included according to the clubs involved. The 29-year-old will spend his first season in three years in Spanish football.
Lenglet is believed to have extended his contract by an extra season with Barcelona until 2027, spreading out a reported €32m gross salary hit over the remaining two years of his deal. That has been crucial to Atletico agreeing to a loan deal. The French defender was keen to work under Diego Simeone, and held out for a move to Los Colchoneros.
Unless a major u-turn, Cancelo will join Saudi Arabia football. The option of bringing Marc Pubill instead remains on the table. @AdriaAlbets
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 26, 2024
They get the left-footed central defender they have been looking for all summer, albeit seemignly relinquishing any remaining hopes of signing Feyenoord’s David Hancko and Bayer Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie, who were their priority targets.
🚨🇫🇷 JUST IN: Clement Lenglet has arrived at Atlético Madrid training with Antoine Griezmann. 🔴⚪️@Belen_Boli pic.twitter.com/KXWQwT85mr
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 26, 2024
Barcelona are able to shift one of their largest salaries for another year, after two seasons on loan at Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. With a plethora of central defenders at their disposal, they will be glad to lighten their wage bill given Lenglet was not due to have a key role for Hansi Flick.
