Tottenham fulfilled the fifth of the six goals set for the ongoing summer transfer window – they brought in a center defender. The management of the London club answered another wish of Antonio Conte and signed Clement Lenglet. As reported by all relevant media, the details of the transfer with Barcelona have been finalized and the French stopper could be officially presented in London soon.However, it will be only as a temporary solution because Barcelona seem to believe in Lenglet. The fact that they sent him to Tottenham on a loan speaks for itself. In the previous days, there was information in the Spanish media that the London club will have the possibility to buy Lenglet out for 10 million euros next summer, but this will not be the case.Clement Lenglet is set for a Tottenham medical in the next 24 hours, with a season-long loan deal from Barcelona close to being finalised. ⏳⚪️ pic.twitter.com/xH8IGUheok— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 7, 2022 The former Nancy and Sevilla stopper will be available to Conte for next season, with Tottenham paying part of his wages, after which he will return to the Nou Camp, where he is under contract until the summer of 2026. Be that as it may, the Italian expert got the left-footed stopper he was missing the previous season. At that time, the left side of the defense in a formation with three central defenders was closed by Ben Davies, a left back by vocation, and Conte asked the management for adequate reinforcements.Highly ranked on the wishlist, Athletic writes, were Josko Guardiol (Leipzig) and Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), alternatives Nico Schlotterbeck and Sven Botman; at the time when the list was compiled there were still players from Freiburg and Lille, and they were not completely excluded as an option in London nor was Villareal’s Pau Torres, who said no to Spurs in January already. Nevertheless, Leipzig demanded more than 60 million euros for Guardiol, which Tottenham were ready to spend for the stopper, Schlotterbeck expressed his desire to stay in Germany (he signed for Dortmund), while Botman was given up for tactical reasons (he doesn’t have much experience in a formation with three stoppers).##NAJAVA_MECA_6495952##In the end, it all came down to Bastoni; however, despite the bad financial situation, Inter did not want to sell the Italian. They could have waited in London for the situation to change and risked entering the season without a stopper, but they decided to turn to a player they can reach more easily and quickly.Bringing in Lenglet will buy Tottenham time until next summer, and give the Frenchman a chance to get back on track and who knows, maybe fight for the place on the plane of the French national team to Qatar that he lost last season when he recorded only 900 minutes in all competitions for Barcelona. He was often criticized lately, but he is far from having nothing to offer Tottenham.
