Tottenham transfers: Defender signing ‘not progressing’ as doubts creep in over deal getting done

Tottenham remain ‘interested in’ bringing Clement Lenglet back to the club next season but a deal for the defender ‘is not progressing’, according to reports.

Barcelona are looking to trim their squad this summer in order to raise funds for other additions as their financial concerns continue to bite hard in Catalonia.

The reigning LaLiga champions are known to be open to offers for a number of players, with Lenglet among them. Indeed, their focus has been on offloading players who spent loan spells away from the club last season.

The Frenchman made 35 appearances in all competitions for Spurs last term, scoring once, but his stay was not exactly regarded as a hugely successful one.

The north London side conceded 63 goals in the Premier League games last season, many of which Lenglet played in.

A report from Mundo Deportivo claims that the 28-year-old is set to join Barcelona’s pre-season training camp on July 10.

However, he is one of the players who ‘is not convincing’ as far as they or manager Xavi are concerned, and they’d like to get him off the books permanently if they can.

It was thought that the two clubs were fairly close to agreeing a cut-price deal for Lenglet, although Tottenham’s links to several other centre-back targets may have slowed that progress a little.

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Their latest target is thought to be Borussia Monchengladbach star Ko Itakura, as reported in Sunday’s edition of Transfer Gossip.

However, the fact that Lenglet is at least familiar with the club and the Premier League still makes him a viable target.

The report adds that Lenglet is ‘not nervous’ about the situation and ‘does not hesitate’ to stay at the Camp Nou, if an attractive offer does not arrive that convinces him ‘economically and sportingly’.

It now appears to be a matter of what direction Tottenham chose to go in with regards their chase for the likes of Micky Van de Ven, Edmond Tapsoba, Tosin Adarabioyo and, potentially, Itakura.