Player Watch: Clément Lenglet

[chrisd2k]

Yeah no option I'm not so sure. Obviously next year other targets should be available but still.

 

[Snarfalicious]

I’m sure Barcelona will give us a favorable deal if Lenglet is fantastic for us. They are completely financially sound, have all their accounts in order, and definitely haven’t had to skirt around financial rules just to register players so they really won’t need to extract every penny from us in a deal for Lenglet after he’s named to the TOTS and propels us to a League Title. No need to panic.

 

[mil1lion]

Just a quick reply on De Vrij, he has really looked like he’s lost a step this last season. He was never the fastest but he certainly was getting caught out much more then the previous season. He would ? be behind Dier at CCB.. There is a reason why they wanted to replace him with Bremer. Personally I’m really glad we haven’t gone near him as I think he would really struggle in the PL.


For me, the only question mark about a viable option that we haven’t gone for is Pau Torres. He isn’t on the same level as Bastoni and Givardiol but he’s still good and fits our remit. Beyond that I’m really not sure who we should target that would significantly improve us. Who would you suggest?

No idea to be honest, I only really follow Spurs and Barca. Even Lenglet I couldn't be certain of as their first choice was Pique alongside Araujo, Garcia often played left centre back ahead of Lenglet. With little game time it was always tough for him. I never heard of Bastoni before we were linked, only heard of Torres last summer when we were linked. Either sounds like a risk to be honest, even Bastoni who appears to be our first choice has been doubted defensively. I always felt we would go for one big signing at centre back (30m+) and 1 less so. Lenglet fits that 2nd option nicely.

 

[EQP]

I'm calling it now. Lenglet will love it Spurs and after a successful season, where he rediscovers his form, he will want to sign a long term deal with us.

 

[AtoubaToothpaste]

Not happy as this bloke has been terrible for a few years now and I don’t think he improves us.

Think we should have gone for Ndicka or Badiashile and then in a years time if we could get Bastoni or Gvardiol we could have got them and at that point sold a 30 year old Davies.

As it stands we basically haven’t improved at CB with Lenglet coming in imo. Unless a miracle happens and starts playing really well like he did for 1 season at Sevilla.

Has Badiashile been that much better than Lenglet? If he has, why haven't Conte or Paratici gone for him instead?

I wish I also had time to regularly watch French and Spanish football. So many on here have so much knowledge. I'm envious!

 

[dtxspurs]

Not happy as this bloke has been terrible for a few years now and I don’t think he improves us.

Think we should have gone for Ndicka or Badiashile and then in a years time if we could get Bastoni or Gvardiol we could have got them and at that point sold a 30 year old Davies.

As it stands we basically haven’t improved at CB with Lenglet coming in imo. Unless a miracle happens and starts playing really well like he did for 1 season at Sevilla.

How did you feel about Davies before Conte took over?

 

[ShelfWatcher]

We don't have to get Bastoni or Gvardiol next summer for it to be sensible business. Neither of our top targets were attainable, but we filled the place in the squad with a player possessing the attributes that Conte was seeking for minimal cost.

If Lenglet rediscovers his confidence he could easily displace Davies and represent a real upgrade to our best XI, and we'd have the inside track on signing him next summer if Bastoni and Gvardiol remain out of our reach. Even in the scenario where he continues his middling form, we add squad depth in a position where it was previously lacking.

There isn't exactly a wealth of left-footed CBs who can ping perfect cross-field diagonals and consistently put the ball on the RWB's foot. We couldn't manage to get the long-term solution nailed down, but we've now put ourselves in reasonably good position for this season with the flexibility to address the situation on a more permanent basis a year from now.

Davies doesn't need upgrading, he's already a top LCB, played just as well as Dier and Romero. Unless those two need upgrading

 

[AssaTM]

We really should put an option into this one. Regardless its a must for Tottenham as a self preservation reason.

Pardon?

 

[CerfBlanc]

Only way this transfer makes sense is if we are going to buy another "big name" cb this window. Can't see us wait a whole year for a player like Bastoni based on that he might want to move then, a lot of things can happen in a year.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Not happy as this bloke has been terrible for a few years now and I don’t think he improves us.

Think we should have gone for Ndicka or Badiashile and then in a years time if we could get Bastoni or Gvardiol we could have got them and at that point sold a 30 year old Davies.

As it stands we basically haven’t improved at CB with Lenglet coming in imo. Unless a miracle happens and starts playing really well like he did for 1 season at Sevilla.

The narrative that he has been terrible seems to clearly have been blown out of proportion to me. He only played the equivalent of 9 games last season and was involved in a couple of bad results but to say he has been terrible doesn't seem to hold up when you look at the stats. He compares favorably with Bastoni, Van Dijk, Dias, Pau Torres and Ben Davies in pretty much every category other than aerial. His passing quality is clear for everyone to see but his defensive stats are really good so I wonder how much of the narrative is just skewed by a couple of bad games and some booing and how much is just one person said he is bad and then the opinion just grows and grows.

 

[dtxspurs]

Davies doesn't need upgrading, he's already a top LCB, played just as well as Dier and Romero. Unless those two need upgrading

You really don't see a difference between Davies & Romero?

 

[mil1lion]

I mean if Conte has spoken to him then he clearly wants him so very happy we get him in
Got a good feeling he will look totally different in a back 3, looked good when Barca went to a 3 and his passing is excellent

 

[Spursmatty87]

I really don't understand how this is the best solution for LCB, IMO seems like a bad deal (especially if there's no buy option). Also, why are people so confident that Bastoni/Gvardiol would come to us next year?

Maybe it’s the best solution we have right now. I don’t think anyone believes he’s the best solution. Obviously we don’t know what happens next summer, but the top clubs are known for putting in the ground work (building relationships) with clubs and players and signing them in the future. Hopefully this is what we are doing with targets that we’d like in the future.

 

[Dunc2610]

The narrative that he has been terrible seems to clearly have been blown out of proportion to me. He only played the equivalent of 9 games last season and was involved in a couple of bad results but to say he has been terrible doesn't seem to hold up when you look at the stats. He compares favorably with Bastoni, Van Dijk, Dias, Pau Torres and Ben Davies in pretty much every category other than aerial. His passing quality is clear for everyone to see but his defensive stats are really good so I wonder how much of the narrative is just skewed by a couple of bad games and some booing and how much is just one person said he is bad and then the opinion just grows and grows.

The narrative is he's not the big money signing some people want, and therefore will put down without the guy even setting foot on a training pitch with one of the best coaches in world football.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

The narrative is he's not the big money signing some people want, and therefore will put down without the guy even setting foot on a training pitch with one of the best coaches in world football.

There is that but people genuinely think he is bad because he had a rocky relationship with Barca and the fans. I mean Bale had a bad relationship with Real and the fans but didn't make him poor. He gave away some penalties and scored an own goal and just got slaughtered for it but he has a lot of quality and even if stats are misleading there are some really clear features to his game which I am assuming Conte likes. He had wanted him at Inter too so there has to be something there.

 

[spursfan77]

You just need to look at the people who have bought him and want to buy him throughout his career to know he’s not shit. I’ll take their opinions over fans any day.

 

[RJR1949]

I’m sure Barcelona will give us a favorable deal if Lenglet is fantastic for us. They are completely financially sound, have all their accounts in order, and definitely haven’t had to skirt around financial rules just to register players so they really won’t need to extract every penny from us in a deal for Lenglet after he’s named to the TOTS and propels us to a League Title. No need to panic.

I wonder if the issue is that if we have an option to buy then Barca would have to write off the difference between the amount at which Lenglet is valued in their accounts and the value of the option, crystalising a loss and making their FFP problems worse.

 

[SambaSpurs]

Disappointed there’s no buy option if true. I can really see him having a stormer for us in the back 3, look at how Conte has improved every player in our team to pretty much their peak career performance level, especially defenders. Then all of a sudden we really want to keep him next year and Barca are demanding £40/50m due to his importance to us and the plaudits he has gotten.

I guess at the moment he’s on c£200k per week, and we aren’t willing to take on that salary, and he’s not willing to let Barca off the hook and give it up. Would that be fair?

I doubt it would be hard to agree a fee with Barca, who just seem to want his wages off the books. Add to that the option could be quite high, such as Ndombele with Lyon last season. Feels like a personal terms issue rather than club to club on the permanent transfer element.

 

[Trix]

You just need to look at the people who have bought him and want to buy him throughout his career to know he’s not shit. I’ll take their opinions over fans any day.

I think there are quite a few on here that don't really understand Conte's MO if I'm honest. They are clammering for the best available player in each position(often without really watching them), but that's not what Conte wants. He asks for players with the skillset best to fit his system and game plan. He's happy to mould and tweak them to fit his style of play as long as they have the required core abilities.

The system and the players ability to execute his game plan are what matters to AC.

No one comes in this window that Conte doesn't want and that is what is most important.

 

[Cult of Ange High Priest]

The narrative that he has been terrible seems to clearly have been blown out of proportion to me. He only played the equivalent of 9 games last season and was involved in a couple of bad results but to say he has been terrible doesn't seem to hold up when you look at the stats. He compares favorably with Bastoni, Van Dijk, Dias, Pau Torres and Ben Davies in pretty much every category other than aerial. His passing quality is clear for everyone to see but his defensive stats are really good so I wonder how much of the narrative is just skewed by a couple of bad games and some booing and how much is just one person said he is bad and then the opinion just grows and grows.

From what I've read from Barca fans, I think the issue is that while he shows all the qualities you want to see in a top level defender, and goes for long stretches of time looking really good, he (almost inevitably) makes idiotic mistakes at terrible times. Kind of like their version of Aurier.