No sooner have Manchester United secured the services of FC Porto’s Diogo Dalot, the news is that the Old Trafford club are targeting another defender. Clement Lenglet is being pursued by United, according to a report on Sky Sports that cites French outlet L’Equipe as its source. Lenglet currently plies his trade in La Liga for Sevilla, and will be familiar with United after the Spanish side knocked Jose Mourinho’s team out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage several months ago, and he clearly impressed Jose Mourinho if news of this bid to bring him to Old Trafford is anything to go by.
The report suggests that Lenglet currently has a £30.7m release clause, and Barcelona have been heavily linked with the player to and are still very good odds to sign, even better odds if you use a betfair promo code but the news appears to be suggesting that United are hoping to win the race to seal the player’s signature. Whether that will be via paying that full release clause remains to be seen, but it’s unlikely that Sevilla will allow the player to go on the cheap if two of Europe’s most wealthy clubs are vying for one of their best players.
This news is another public show of the distrust that Mourinho has in his current centre back options, however. The Portuguese has Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly on the club’s books already; Mourinho brought in the latter two and Rojo recently signed a new deal, so quite how Lenglet fits into that equation with no news of United planning to release anyone from that quintet is anyone’s guess. Not only that, but reports this summer have heavily linked United with a move for Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld, so again, Mourinho’s plans for his team in the heart of defence appear to be completely scattered at this stage.
