Barcelona defender closing in on loan move to AC Milan, deal to include mandatory buy clause

Having struggled for minutes on loan at Aston Villa, Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet could be poised to join a different club on a temporary spell in the January transfer window.

The 28-year-old has game-time hard to come by in the Premier League for Unai Emery’s side, and interest had been growing in the defender in recent weeks.

Bayern Munich were understood to be keen while Napoli also entered the fray for his signing very recently.

AC Milan close to Lenglet deal

But according to Italian publication Corriere dello Sport (h/t SPORT), it is AC Milan who appear to be winning the race to sign Lenglet on loan in January.

The French centre-back is already close to leaving the Premier League to go to Italy in an operation that could pay off financially for Barcelona.

Lenglet is understood to have already given his OK to Milan to join them on loan until the end of the season, with a mandatory option to buy being included in the operation, depending on his performance.

Barça would be in agreement with the operation and now all eyes are on Aston Villa to ratify the operation by breaking his loan.

Solution found

Barcelona and Lenglet were looking for a solution to his failed loan at Aston Villa. The player has yet to make his Premier League debut and has only been used in the Conference League in a situation that has become untenable for all parties.

The Blaugrana did not want the defender, who has a contract until 2026, to lose more value and the player wanted a team that would guarantee him minutes.

Lenglet and his entourage are said to have analysed several proposals as several teams had approached him to find out about his situation.

Lenglet’s priority was Bayern, but he was not the number one candidate for the centre-back position, so they did not want to wait. Napoli had also been interested in signing, but the cost of his fee was unaffordable, leaving Milan as the viable solution.

For Barça, the Lenglet operation is very important in terms of the wage bill. The player would still have two years left on his contract after June and his salary is one of the highest in the squad.

The club’s absolute priority is to complete this deal by means of a transfer, albeit for a small amount, with the aim of saving his wages. If Lenglet plays a certain number of games as a starter, Milan would sign him permanently and Barça would take a real problem off their hands.