Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been handed a promising update on their pursuit of former defender Clement Lenglet by reports out of Spain.
The north Londoners’ transfer kitty has been bolstered by the sale of star striker Harry Kane, who has just completed his sensational switch to Bayern Munich for around €100 million (£86m) plus an extra €20 million (£17.2m) in possible add-ons.
Losing Kane to the Bundesliga come as a seismic blow for Spurs as they must now seek to replace a 25-plus goal-per-season forward, but there are a few options they’ve been linked with.
Tottenham could also look to shore up other areas of the squad following the 30-year-old’s departure, as reliable media sources like The Times suggest they could make as many as three major signings before deadline day.
The Lilywhites have already completed deals for goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, young centre-back Ashley Phillips, defender Micky van de Ven, playmaker James Maddison, winger Manor Solomon and striker Alejo Veliz, but there is now still plenty of work to do at Spurs.
Following the signing of van de Ven, manager Ange Postecoglou has previously hinted at the club making another centre-back move.
“It’s not done yet,” said Postecoglou last weekend.
“We need bolstering in that central defensive area. We need defenders who can work in an aggressive formation, defend well & behind them. We’ll be looking to bring in a couple in that area in the coming days.”
Following on from that comment, the Spurs head coach later backtracked, saying a new central defensive addition will be dependent on outgoings.
“We’ve to see what happens with outgoings,” explained Postecoglou.
“But, the potential is there to bring in one more centre back after van de Ven.”
Now that Kane’s marquee move to Bayern is sealed, it would appear that Spurs have the money to reinvest in a new defender, with reports out of Spain suggesting it could well be Lenglet.
The Frenchman has been repeatedly linked with a move to north London this summer, but Sport now say that Barcelona hope to “close the departure” of Lenglet to Spurs “very soon” after they sold Kane.
Lenglet, meanwhile, “hopes there will be an agreement between the clubs”. It’s added that Tottenham hope to sign a fair few players before deadline day and the 28-year-old could be one of them.
Talks were frozen due to a lack of agreement on finances, but it appears the move is now very much back on.
Over his 26 appearances for Spurs on loan last term, Lenglet averaged a cool 87.5% passing accuracy out from the back (WhoScored), indicating he could fit in well to Postecoglou’s fluid system.
Meanwhile, long-serving Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris believes he is a “high level” player.
“He’s a modern defender,” said Lloris.
“Comfortable to be able to play from the back. He has a great left foot and can be very strong in one v one and he’s strong in the air.
“Even if it’s never easy when you arrive in the Premier League and he will have to adapt to the intensity of the games but he is a high level player, with experience.
