Fabrizio Romano confirms Aston Villa man approached by Euro giant amid concern over Arsenal raid

AC Milan have contacted Barcelona to see if they can sign Aston Villa loanee Clement Lenglet in January, as the Italian giants are unsure whether they will be able to land an Arsenal player to bolster their defence.

Lenglet was deemed surplus to requirements by Barca manager Xavi in July last year, and this resulted in him being loaned out to Tottenham Hotspur for the full 2022-23 campaign. The centre-back went on to make 35 appearances for Tottenham, with 26 of those coming in the Premier League.

Spurs were tipped to sign Lenglet on a permanent basis, but they ultimately decided against doing so. And this gave Barca a headache, as they had to find another loan suitor for him.

Lenglet then joined Villa on loan on September 1. The Frenchman arrived at Villa Park to help bolster Unai Emery’s defence following the ruptured ACL Tyrone Mings suffered against Newcastle United on the opening day of the season.

However, Lenglet’s spell in the West Midlands has not gone to plan. While he knew he would not start every game, he has been left frustrated by the fact Emery has left him on the bench for every single league match so far.

Lenglet has had to rely on the Europa Conference League group stage for playing time, and he managed a full 90 minutes in five of their six games, missing the 1-1 draw with HSK Zrinjski Mostar on Thursday.

READ MORE: ‘I think he would go’ – £100m-rated Aston Villa star tipped to make stunning Arsenal move in January

In November, it emerged that Barca are ‘seriously concerned’ about the defender’s transfer value declining during his underwhelming spell at Villa. It was suggested that the La Liga titans could end his loan early in order to help him achieve a different transfer in January.

Lenglet has since been linked with a shock move to Bayern Munich, but it is now more likely that he will end up in Italy.

Fabrizio Romano provides update on Lenglet situation

According to Fabrizio Romano, Milan have ‘asked’ Barca about Lenglet’s situation ahead of the winter window opening. They want to know whether Barca will consider terminating his Villa loan and ship him to Italy for the remainder of the campaign.

Both the 28-year-old and Barca will be frustrated with how the Villa transfer has worked out, so it would make sense if they ripped it up and finalised a deal with Milan instead.

It is likely Milan will only want to sign Lenglet on loan, rather than in a permanent deal. But this could still work out for Barca if he plays regularly at Milan and therefore boosts his transfer value back up again before the summer window.

Milan have previously been named as potential suitors for Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior, and Romano confirms that they are interested in the Poland international.

Although, Milan are unsure whether Arsenal will let Kiwior leave, as the Gunners know they will need strong squad depth in order to mount a serious Prem title challenge and also go far in cup competitions.

When asked about Kiwior potentially leaving the Emirates for Milan, transfer insider Ben Jacobs said recently: “When he’s been called on, I think he’s shown that he can be a very useful squad player. And the last thing Arsenal want to do in any position is lose depth. Because they spent a lot of money in the summer, they may therefore not have a lot of money as far as January is concerned.

“And if you lose a player that you don’t really want to go, then you have to add to your squad potentially and if Arsenal are thin, then it could again cost them the Premier League.”

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