At the board lunch held this afternoon at Botafumeiro, Joan Laporta and Enrique Cerezo negotiated the definitive sale of Clement Lenglet at a bargain price.
Clement Lenglet, 29 years old, cost Barça 36 million euros paid to Sevilla in the 2017-18 season. Eight years later, he plays at Atlético de Madrid on loan.
FC Barcelona renewed his contract until 2026 with the hope of obtaining income from his transfer. But the end of his contract is approaching, and no worthy offers are arriving.
Barça Continues to Pay Part of Lenglet's Salary
For now, he plays at Atlético de Madrid on loan, to the full satisfaction of his coach, with Barça paying part of the salary. Atlético can't pay it in full even though they fully enjoy his presence.
Lenglet, who never felt like a starter at FC Barcelona, is now a starter at Atlético de Madrid. He has even displaced LeNormand, Atlético's star signing.
In fact, today he played his second match at Montjuïc with Atlético while being owned by FC Barcelona.
After overcoming an injury in November, Lenglet has established himself as a key player in Simeone's plans. Since then, 10 starts in LaLiga and 5 in the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Atlético is considering the possibility of keeping Lenglet permanently. Although, for that, they first need to reach an agreement with Barça.
And the agreement seems difficult because Atlético. Their executives have been entertained by Laporta in one of the most expensive restaurants in Barcelona (and the crisis?). And they have proposed to repeat with the Catalan club another of those ruinous deals that have become common in recent years.
Barça's Ruinous Deals with Atlético
These are the cases of David Villa, Luis Suárez, or Memphis Depay, who arrived practically at zero cost to the Atlético club. Like the transfer of Arda Turan, which cost Barça 40 million. Or the Griezmann Operation.
Barça paid 120 million for Griezmann. Plus another 15 to avoid the lawsuit for contacting him prematurely. A buyback amount of 40 million was agreed upon, but Atlético only paid 20.
The Atlético club earned 115 million from the two-year rental of Griezmann at Camp Nou.
Atlético Tries to Take Advantage of Barça's Economic Situation
Now Atlético intends to keep Lenglet at Barça's sale price, not theirs. That is, they offer 5 million, including fixed and variables, to keep him permanently, taking advantage of Barça's difficulties in complying with financial fair play.
And Barça, according to La Posesión from the Sport newspaper, demands 10 million. Lenglet has played this season, offering great performance, 21 matches with Atlético, scoring two goals and providing one assist.