Atletico Madrid don’t want to pay Barcelona’s asking price for 29-year-old outcast – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have been enjoying an excellent season under Hansi Flick and are in the final few months of the campaign with a treble on the line. The push for the same starts this weekend as the Catalan club takes on Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final, as Flick looks to continue his invincible record in finals.

On the pitch, it is always a joy to see Real Madrid and Barcelona play, especially in a season like this where the Catalan club has had one over their league rivals so far. However, that could change in the space of minutes, and this weekend’s final won’t be easy by any stretch of imagination.

On the field, things might seem rosy for the Catalan club, but there is still some work to be done off the pitch to continue their recovery and bring back the financial stability. Among these is taking Clement Lenglet’s wages off the books once and for all.

The Frenchman has hardly played for Barcelona or stayed at the club for the better part of three-four seasons now, and yet, he still remains affiliated to the Catalan club, and his gigantic wages have made it almost impossible for the club to move him on for good.

Now, as per Mundo Deportivo, Clement Lenglet is very happy with his loan spell at Atletico Madrid and would love to continue there. The Frenchman has established himself as a mainstay in Diego Simeone’s team, and it is understandable for him to want to continue there.

Clement Lenglet in action for Atletico Madrid. [Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images]

With a future at Barcelona ruled out, it leaves Lenglet with three options: transfer permanently to Atletico, move on another loan deal, or move to a different club. Barcelona are asking for € 10 million to sell the Frenchman permanently, and the Madrid-based side does not want to cough up that fee.

The advantage for Atletico is that they know time is on their side and that the longer they drag this saga out, the better it is for them, as Barcelona are likely to get more desperate to move on a player who is causing significant harm to their wage books.

It remains to be seen what the upcoming summer holds for Lenglet, but for Barcelona’s sake, one would hope that this is the last they will see of Lenglet, at least in any association with the club. Let’s wait and see how it plays out.