highlights
- Tottenham Hotspur is actively pursuing the signing of a star central defender to address their defensive weaknesses from last season.
- Clement Lenglet, a former Tottenham player, is among the potential options for re-signing and has received praise for his playing abilities and experience.
- Lenglet’s comfortable style of play, strength in one-on-one situations, and aerial abilities make him a valuable addition to Tottenham’s defense.
Tottenham Hotspur have also held talks over re-signing defender Clement Lenglet as Ange Postecoglou attempts to sign two centre-backs this summer.
Who will Spurs sign?
Spurs are now chasing the signing of a star central defender after they leaked a woeful 63 league goals in the top flight last season, more than any other English side above 15th in the table.
Postecoglou will be fully aware of those numbers, and as he has already publicly confirmed, it is certainly a glaring issue which Tottenham are looking to address this summer.
“That’s definitely our intention, absolutely,” Postecoglou said 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 need to strengthen. Some of it I identified early on. The goalkeeper is one and the central defense 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.”
Wolfsburg’s Micky van de Ven, Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen, Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo, Lenglet, Galatasary’s Victor Nelsson and Juventus defender Gleison Bremer have all been linked with moves to N17 recently.
Talks remain ongoing for both Tapsoba and van de Ven, but it appears they haven’t lost interest in Lenglet either.
Journalist Alasdair Gold, writing for football. london, claims they have held discussions with Barcelona over a possible re-signing.
The 28-year-old featured regularly under Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason last season and could yet make a return to the club.
This comes as Spurs aim to bolster their defensive ranks with two senior centre-back signings this summer, with the Lilywhites also eyeing Crystal Palace defenders Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen.
How good is Clement Lenglet?
Over his league appearances for Spurs last season, the £204,000-per-week defender averaged a very impressive 87.5% out from the back (WhoScored).
That’s more than any other Spurs defender bar Cristian Romero and his experience playing at the very top level for Barcelona, although sporadically, could be invaluable if Postecoglou wishes to build a winning mentality at Spurs.
Lenglet has been endorsed by former teammate at Tottenham and compatriot Hugo Lloris, who called the former Sevilla star a “modern” defender and “high level player”.
“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 game but he is a high level player, with experience.”
Meanwhile, Spurs pundit John Wenham called him “very reliable” and expressed delight with Lenglet after the first ever north London derby for the player.
“I have been impressed with him so far,” said Wenham.
“The fact he has instantly come in for Ben Davies and we don’t look any weaker, that is a huge credit to him really.
“He’s a new signing to the Premier League, I know he has a lot of experience from Barcelona and with France but he already seems very reliable, like we could drop him in for any fixture.“
