Atletico Madrid had been trying for most of the summer to get Feyenoord central defender David Hancko through the door, but in the end decided to go for the much more economic alternative, Clement Lenglet. The Barcelona defender has joined on loan for this season, and the difference is worth €12m to Atletico Madrid.
Almería want €25m for Marc Pubill, making the operation infeasible for Barcelona. @gbsans
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 30, 2024
Signing Hancko would have meant an annual cost of €16m between salary and transfer fee for Atletico, as per Marca, and they decided that was not possible in their salary limit this summer. Lenglet will cost Atletico ‘just’ €4m this season. The 29-year-old is on a contract until 2026 at Barcelona, and reportedly has an annual salary of €16m gross, meaning Barcelona are paying €12m of his salary, unless he has decided to forego some of that money.
🇩🇪🗣️Toni Kroos: “There will be a fight for second place where Atlético Madrid will beat Barcelona. Real Madrid will win La Liga.”@diarioas pic.twitter.com/KSIsIVLXd0
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 30, 2024
There have also been reports that Lenglet has extended his contract for an extra year to spread out the cost of his salary by an extra year, in which case the Blaugrana would be paying €6.7m for Lenglet this season, but that extension is yet to be confirmed by the club.
Lenglet’s large contract has been an issue for Barcelona for some time, with the Frenchman spending the last two seasons on loan at Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. Manager Hansi Flick was reportedly not against him remaining in the squad, but the financial impact has made it impossible for the Blaugrana.
