Aston Villa’s Clement Lenglet is a decent defender playing on football’s fringes

Barcelona and Clement Lenglet want to see bang for their buck.

Lenglet earns around £13.5million ($17.18m) gross per year, with Aston Villa paying a considerable chunk of his salary throughout a season-long loan.

His excessive wage is symptomatic of his parent club’s recent struggles, with Barcelona’s exacerbating financial problems culminating in several levers being found and pushed.

This is Lenglet’s second year in the Premier League after Tottenham initially moved for him. In a similar way to how circumstances have transpired at Aston Villa, he was deemed a suitable alternative option at Spurs and benefitted from short-term thinking. He did fine, never fully convincing or, conversely, ever proving the defensive disaster that diminished Antonio Conte’s trust in deploying him in a back three.

Lenglet made 26 Premier League appearances and on a human level, was well thought of. He was never seen to complain about the lack of playing time and was regarded as having the right character around the dressing room.

Still, the unshakeable feeling was that he did not quite make the grade when competing among the elite. His performances did not justify his salary, but his defensive profile made him an attractive option for other teams, who knew Barcelona would readily help in sending him on loan again.

Unai Emery made it clear he wanted Villa to seek a replacement following Tyrone Mings’s season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury on the opening day at Newcastle United. Having four central defenders of substantial pedigree and preferably European experience — Torres, Carlos, Ezri Konsa and another — was imperative in Villa navigating an intensive European schedule and from a tactical perspective.

Before his injury and coinciding with the acquisition of Torres, it was reiterated that Mings would remain Emery’s first-choice centre-back and leader. Villa had planned to incorporate both left-footed defenders into the team, with Mings the defensive organiser and Torres viewed as transformative in possession and could increasingly imprint Emery’s style.

Even though left-footed centre-backs are in rarified air in modern recruitment, the benefit of one within Villa’s build-up structure is crucial to Emery. Left-footers open up different passing lanes and provide a variation to build-up play, enabling teams to play through high or low blocks due to more incisive passes through the lines. Torres was a major upgrade to anything else Villa had in this department. 

When Mings’ season shattered, Emery sought another left-footed defender. Monchi, Villa’s president of football operations, had signed Lenglet for Sevilla from Nancy in January 2017 and consequently held detailed knowledge of his attributes and character. He joined Barcelona from Sevilla for €35million (£30.1m; $38.4m) in 2018.

“In the structure we created, we wanted two left-footed centre-backs,” said Emery. “It was very important (for Lenglet) to understand how we build, how we play, how we control the game. Pau Torres’ adaptation was very quick. Lenglet needed a bit more time, but now he’s doing what we want.”

Emery’s reference to adaptation is a pertinent one for Lenglet. It is highly feasible the 28-year-old would have entered the new year without making a Premier League appearance had Torres not suffered an ankle injury eight days out from Christmas.

Thirteen straight games on the bench underlined both Villa’s settled defensive structure — they didn’t need to make a change — but also Lenglet being unable to persuade Emery to change it. Invariably, the Spaniard opted for Diego Carlos when he wanted to build in a back three shape or when Konsa moonlighted at right-back.

This has tested the patience of Lenglet and Barcelona, who want to see his value retained ahead of trying, for a third time, to sell him permanently in the summer when the France international will still, remarkably, have two years left on his existing deal.

“We added Lenglet because the season is long,” said Emery. “When Pau (Torres) is not 100 per cent, we are playing with Lenglet. I am speaking with Lenglet and I am sending him my message. I am very happy. I need him and the team needs him. We are going to play FA Cup, Conference League — in my mind, nothing is changing in our relationship.”

Earlier this season, Torres had progressed the ball more than any other player in the Premier League. His ball-carrying qualities are indefatigable and have shaped Villa’s most well-oiled displays, offering a profound level of composure and incision.

Torres has carried the ball into the final third (32) and completed 20 switches of play — a raking diagonal pass to the right winger is a staple of his — which is the most of any Villa player. Pertinently, across Europe’s top five leagues, Torres ranks in the top three per cent of defenders for progressive carries (1.79 per 90 minutes) and the top five per cent for progressive passes (5.63), but Lenglet more than holds his own in those departments; he is in the top two per cent of centre-backs for progressive carries (2.05 per 90).

But intangible factors come into play in mitigating such metrics. A case in point was Villa’s fragile display against Burnley, where the back four was unnerved by Lyle Foster’s pace.

Torres, although nowhere near fit, was named on the bench due to a lack of options and was required on the hour mark. Lenglet came off, initially appearing as a sign of his toils against Foster, but Emery insisted his substitution was due to feeling unwell.

The change aggravated matters, with Torres partly at fault for Foster’s goal and coming off feeling worse than before. And given the possibility of a move elsewhere this month, the spotlight sharpened on Lenglet, who had started his third Premier League match and looked uncomfortable operating in the distinct defensive structure.

Emery decided to rest Torres completely ahead of the trip to Middlesbrough. Villa aimed to win their first FA Cup game since January 2016.

For the most part, Villa played like a team who laboured to break the eight-year duck, with Emery conceding that the next stage of their development is to be more effective against low-blocks. This, naturally, is where Torres’ ball progression alleviates such problems. By halftime, Lenglet had made 70 passes — 17 more than his defensive partner Konsa, who completed the next most on the pitch — providing a snapshot into the match’s general pattern.

The goal that undid Middlesbrough three minutes from time was fitting. An untidy one-two resulted in Douglas Luiz laying the ball into the path of Matty Cash, whose shot deflected in at the near post. Emery grinned and clapped politely, relieving fears of a replay adding further fixture congestion.

Lenglet had been booked five minutes before, blemishing a display which had followed his recent career trajectory; generally reasonable without starring. With Villa believing Torres will be available next week, Lenglet’s career is in danger of staying on the periphery.

(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)