View: Tottenham would be smart to make Clement Lenglet stay permanent
Tottenham need a host of new defenders ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Spurs could spend this whole transfer window focusing solely on defensive signings as well as a brand-new goalkeeper and fans could have little complaint.
Harry Kane (if he stays), Dejan Kulusevski, Heung-Min Son and Richarlison are strong attacking options. Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez, Ben Davies and Cristian Romero as centre-back choices is quite the opposite.
Ange Postecoglou will need to rebuild his defence and find options to partner 25-year-old Romero. Clement Lenglet is more than capable of providing one of those options.
The French defender spent the past season on loan from Barcelona in North London and is now reportedly in talks to return to the club on a permanent basis.
Spanish newspaper Sport have reported (21 June) that Barcelona are looking to offload Lenglet before 30 June in order to reduce their wage bill, and there has been positive contact between the two clubs with an agreement edging closer.
Tottenham are reportedly offering just over £4million which would be an absolute steal for a player of Lenglet’s quality, who is still 28 with three years left on his contract.
One key trait needed from a defender in a Postecoglou side is short, precise passing while playing under pressure, as well as the ability to step up into midfield in order to squeeze the opposition. These are things which Lenglet absolutely excelled at last season.
As per fbref, the former Sevilla defender was in the top one per cent of centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues for his pass completion rate over a short distance with an outstanding 96 per cent of these types of passes completed per 90.
The stats suggest he is also more than comfortable operating in midfield and forward areas as he would make 0.78 tackles per 90 in the middle third, placing him in the 87th percentile compared to his positional peers in Europe and was in the top four per cent of centre-backs making tackles in the attacking third (0.21 per 90).
Lenglet’s ability to step up into midfield is also demonstrated through his comfort carrying the ball forward. He was in the top six per cent of defenders around the continent when it came to progressive carries (1.54 per 90) and would often continue those carries into the final third, making 1.21 per 90, placing him in the top eight per cent compared to his European positional peers.
For these qualities, Lenglet makes a much better defensive option to partner Romero than either Dier or Sanchez who do not have the same skillset as the Frenchman that is required in a Postecoglou defence.
A defender in a Postecoglou team will also need to be able to defend high up the pitch in a system which requires relentless and aggressive pressing – something Lenglet proved himself plenty capable of last season.
In the above image from Tottenham’s game against Arsenal at the Emirates last season (1 October 2022), Gabriel Martinelli can be seen playing the ball toward Bukayo Saka and Lenglet is quite some distance away from the English forward, however still manages to close the distance and make the tackle.
Not only does Lenglet make the tackle, but he is also able to come away with the ball as shown in the image above. The speed at which he was able to close the distance and make the tackle is represented by how far Lenglet has moved compared to Saka.
Due to Postecoglou’s system requiring his defenders to operate in a high line, his centre-backs must be able to anticipate and have an understanding of the game in order to deal with a fast break from the opposition.
In the below image, Lenglet can be seen successfully doing that against one of the league’s best wingers, Mohamed Salah, in Tottenham’s clash with Liverpool at home last season (6 November 2022).
As seen in the image, Salah is through on goal with plenty of space to run into and would be fancied as the favourite in this situation due to his incredible speed and finishing. However, Lenglet is able to keep up with Salah and recover.
As the Egyptian enters the box and pulls his foot back to shoot, Lenglet slides in and makes the tackle to put it behind for a corner.
As the stats and annotated images prove, Lenglet is clearly a strong option for Postecoglou and for the price reported would be an absolute steal.
However, he on his own is not enough and Tottenham will need to find more defensive options in the transfer market if they want to fix last season’s leaky defence.