Barcelona defender in talks to join Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet was solid in preseason, and reportedly impressed Hansi Flick, but is most likely to leave the club again this summer, as they try to reduce their wage bill. After two years in the Premier League though, he could be remaining in Spain.

Atletico Madrid had made Feyenoord defender David Hancko their top target, but a difference of around €8m between their valuations for the Slovakian has so far stopped any deal. Meanwhile Bayer Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie is another name that Atletico like and is on the table.

Another name that has been confirmed as on their shortlist is Al-Nassr’s Aymeric Laporte, but Matteo Moretto says a move for him is a little further away, amid links to Real Madrid.

Meanwhile the ‘most easy’ according to Moretto is Barcelona’s Lenglet. The two sides are in talks over how to do a deal, and a sign it is advancing is that Villarreal, who were interested, are now pessimistic about a deal.

The 29-year-old’s huge wages have so far prevented any permanent exit from Barcelona being agreed so far, hence two successive loans at Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. Still capable of performing well in the right system, he would likely be the cheapest of the four options, depending on what kind of wages Laporte would demand.