Verbal agreement reached: Deal set to happen in coming days for ‘very strong’ player

Tottenham Hotspur are “standing as the favourites” to sign Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet, and he’s already reached an agreement with them.

Who will Spurs sign?

Ange Postecoglou’s team is in the home stretch of current transfer window after signing playmaker James Maddison, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, and winger Manor Solomon.

Daniel Levy, the chairman of Tottenham, has one month left in the summer transfer window, and there is still a lot to do because it has been publicly reported that Tottenham wants to buy two senior center-backs.

Postecoglou indicated that the north Londoners are looking to enhance in that part of the team while addressing to the media during Spurs’ most recent preseason trip of Asia.

“That’s definitely our intention, absolutely,” said Postecoglou when asked about signing new defenders.

“We’ve been working on it for a while and we’ll definitely try to get it done as quickly as possible.

“I don’t think it’s any secret about some of the areas we needed to strengthen. Some of it I identified early on. The goalkeeper was one and central defence is another.

“In terms of the other boys, we’ve got a big squad but my view is I wanted to bring them along and just work with them, get some clarity in my head and give clarity to them.”

Several players have been identified as targets in the media over the past month, including Micky van de Ven of Wolfsburg, Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen, Tosin Adarabioyo of Fulham, Victor Nelsson of Galatasaray, Gleison Bremer of Juventus, and, of course, Lenglet.

The Frenchman, who has caps for Les Bleus at international level, has struggled to make his mark at Barcelona since he joined them from Sevilla in 2019.

Lenglet spent the 2022/2023 on loan at Tottenham, where he featured semi-regularly under Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason.

Spurs have reportedly been trying to re-sign the 28-year-old on a long-term basis, according to a report from the Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness).

Lenglet has already agreed to re-join Spurs for the upcoming season, and it is thought that Tottenham are “standing as the favourites” to secure a deal for him.

By the end of this week, Xavi’s side wants him gone, and if they can’t come to terms on a permanent exit, Barca will reportedly approve a loan with a mandatory buyout option.

The report adds his exit could be just days away and Spurs’ patience in talks appears to be slowly paying off, with it remaining to be seen what kind of deal will be eventually struck here.

What has Clement Lenglet been said?

Hugo Lloris, a longtime keeper for Spurs, has given the defender his full support, describing him as a “very strong” and “high level” player just last summer.

“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.”