Atletico Madrid signed Clement Lenglet on loan from Barcelona last summer, and it is safe to say that he has greatly impressed. Club officials are already preparing to make the move permanent, although they will need to pay more money than their first offer, which was submitted recently.
Lenglet has been an excellent central defensive option for Atleti alongside Jose Maria Gimenez and Robin Le Normand. It is no surprise that they want him to remain at the club beyond the summer, and Barcelona are happy to sell a player that they have no interest in keeping – and also whose contract is expiring in 2026.
Interestingly, Lenglet could not have ended up at Atleti, as prior to his arrival, head coach Diego Simeone wanted a different centre-back from Barcelona – that being Inigo Martinez.
As per Sport, Simeone was very interested in Martinez, who was barley counted on by previous Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez. However, it was the player himself that turned down the opportunity of a move to Atleti, as he only considered staying in Catalonia.
This decision has been vindicated, as Martinez has been a top performer for Barcelona this season. He has developed a very strong partnership with Pau Cubarsi, and he has even been preferred to Ronald Araujo despite the Uruguayan defender having return to action after missing the first half of the campaign with a serious hamstring injury.
There could still be hope for Simeone and Atleti in their pursuit of Martinez, who is out of contract at Barcelona at the end of this season. However, a one-year extension has already been agreed, and the hope of the Catalan club is that everything will be finalised in the next few weeks – although they could have to wait until there is space in FFP.
