Decisive hours in the operation of one of the 'victims' of the 'overbooking' of Barça centre-backs

FC Barcelona accelerates the departure of Clément Lenglet. The loan of the Frenchman to Atlético de Madrid would give a great respite to the coffers of the club, which has found the solution to 'unlock' the central defender's situation. It would involve renewing him for 2 more seasons (his contract expires in 2026), and in this way, deferring his high salary of 16 million gross euros. Thus, the footballer's salary was distributed at 8 million per season, a total of 32 'kilos' to be distributed over 4 years, which are the 2 that remain on his contract plus the extension of another 2.

For his part, the 'colchonera' entity would take charge of 80 percent of his gross amount in the agreement that would take him through a loan to Cívitas Metropolitano. This formula would allow the Catalans to free up salary space and resolve their priority portfolio, which is the registration of Dani Olmo. Once this front was closed, the Blaugranas would have room to incorporate a 'low cost' left winger to Hansi Flick's squad.

From the Spotify Camp Nou offices they registered Lenglet last week with the clear objective of gaining salary margin with his departure. According to 'SPORT', despite the fact that the Catalans' preferred option was to get rid of the Frenchman permanently with a transfer, the difficulties in finding a club willing to sign him (and to which the footballer, who rejected proposals from Saudi Arabia, would like to go) have forced to reactivate the transfer route.

His third loan in three years

Clément has not worn the Barça shirt in an official match since May 22, 2022, when he was part of the defeat against Villarreal at the Camp Nou on the last match of LaLiga. Since then, the footballer has passed through the ranks of Tottenham Hotspur in 22/23 and Aston Villa in 23/24, both carried out through a simple loan without a purchase option.

Joao Félix, the key

Joao Félix played an important role in the Frenchman's operation, since thanks to the sale of the Portuguese to Chelsea, the colchoneros have enough salary space to assume 80% of his gross salary. If his departure finally takes place, the culés would repeat the formula applied with Samuel Umtiti, when the defender renewed in 2022 until 2026 and, weeks later, was loaned to Lecce, although a season later, he ended up terminating his contract with the Catalan club.