Aston Villa loan signing poised for Spain return as suitors line up after continued Emery snubs

According to reports, Barcelona is prepared to cancel defender Clement Lenglet’s loan at Aston Villa during the January transfer window.

The 28-year-old Frenchman joined Emery’s elite team during the summer

on a season-long loan, but he has yet to play a minute in the Premier League.

Lenglet has made numerous appearances in the Europa Conference

League this season. He has represented Villa in five group games as they await

their next opponents after making it to the competition’s knockout stage.

But it looks like Villa won’t be able to sign him come January since Barca wants the player back in order to sell him in January.

It’s estimated that Lenglet makes over £204,000 a week at Camp Nou, but it’s unclear how much of it is really paid by Villa.

Football Insider has confirmed that AC Milan, the dominant Italian team, is reportedly in the running to sign the international player from France. Lenglet is reportedly very eager to move to Serie A.

The center back played 35 games in all competitions last season while on loan at Villa’s Premier League opponents, Tottenham. Of those games, he started 32.

Though he played in a more defensive back three in North London, it’s evident that Emery does not completely trust Lenglet to play in a four-man backline given his lack of playing time at home.

When Tyrone Mings isn’t playing full-back, Pau Torres, Diego Carlos, and Ezri

Konsa have all performed admirably for Villa in central defense this year. Tyrone

Mings is anticipated to return the following season after sustaining a

horrific ACL injury in the team’s opening Premier League match.

Lenglet set for second move of the season

At this stage, Lenglet remains under contract at Barcelona until 2026, leaving

the Catalan side to command a decent fee for his services.

It just remains to be seen whether Milan are keen to buy or whether they will try and tempt Barca into another loan.

As for Villa, they will be back in action on Friday night when they host Sheffield United in the Premier League.

After 17 games, Emery’s team is currently ranked third in the table and is making progress in Europe. They are having an amazing season so far.