Tottenham Hotspur aren’t short of centre-backs with Cristian Romero, Eric Dier, Davinson Sánchez, Japhet Tanganga and Clément Lenglet, but Antonio Conte still wants another defender as he’s ‘not convinced’ by Lenglet.
Spurs brought in Lenglet on a season-long loan from Barcelona last summer, but Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider writes in his column that Tottenham have ‘yet to make’ a decision on signing him permanently.
The 27-year-old has made 23 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, scoring one goal with two assists. Lenglet hasn’t always commanded a starting place, however, featuring in 15/25 Premier League games this season, so it remains to be seen if Conte recommends his signing.
Teammates outperforming Lenglet
Lenglet is seventh in the Tottenham squad for tackles (1.3 per game), eighth for interceptions (0.8 per game), seventh for clearances (1.9 per game), seventh for blocks (0.4 per game), sixth for aerial duels won (1.7 per game), and sixth for pass accuracy (87.3%), so a lot of his teammates are outperforming him.
Lenglet had to be patient for opportunities earlier in the season, playing in just four league games between August and mid-October. And when he eventually got a run in the side for three months, Tottenham lost more games than they won, resulting in the Frenchman being dropped.
Tottenham have a 53% win percentage and 40% loss percentage in the league when Lenglet has played, conceding 1.7 goals per game. Spurs have a 60% win percentage and 20% loss percentage when he’s been left on the bench, conceding 0.9 goals per game.
The £22m-rated man is Tottenham’s fifth-highest earner on £145k-per-week/£7.5m-a-year, per Spotrac, so it’s a considerable outlay for a player that Conte is unsure on. Rourke doesn’t say who else Spurs might be targeting if they don’t go for Lenglet, however.
The Lilywhites are battling Newcastle United for a top-four spot, so they don’t know if they’ll have Champions League football next season to lure a player in. Finishing fourth will allow them to attract a better defender than if they were only in the Europa League, but Rourke didn’t say they won’t sign Lenglet. They’re just taking their time over a decision due to doubts, so the door isn’t fully closed.
