Tottenham close to defender snare as personal terms ‘agreed’, with Postecoglou following Conte lead

Tottenham have reportedly reached an ‘agreement’ with defender Clement Lenglet, with just the agreement over the ‘final amount’ with Barcelona between them and the signing.

New Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou is beginning to right the wrongs of the previous season. It was a poor campaign by all standards for the north London outfit, as they slumped to an eighth-placed finish.

That was their worst finish since the 2008/09 season. It’s not hard to see from last season’s showing that things need to change for Tottenham to be successful.

Some areas of the field were clearly in line for renovation. Hugo Lloris came under fire a lot last season – Postecoglou has already recruited a new goalkeeper in Guglielmo Vicario.

There has felt to be a lack of a creative spark at Spurs since Christian Eriksen left. James Maddison – one of the league’s best creators – has walked through the door.

Pedro Porro’s signing has become permanent, and the permanent signing of Dejan Kulusevksi – which was up in the air at one point according to reports – has also been confirmed.

Indeed, there will be a fine line to tread for Postecoglou, between keeping players who have impacted the side and recruiting fresh faces who he feels will do a better job.

One loanee from last season has clearly done enough in his eyes to warrant a permanent move.

Lenglet personal ‘agreement’ in place

Indeed, Spanish outlet Sport reports an ‘agreement in principle’ over personal terms has been secured for centre-back Lenglet.

The next step will be coming to an agreement with Barcelona over a fee. The report states the ‘final amount’ of the transfer is something that has been discussed ‘for several days’.

It’s suggested the defender could be cheaper than Barca might want him to be, too. Indeed, Spurs do ‘not want to pay a lot of money’ and the sale is ‘absolutely necessary’ for the Spanish giants.

The report floats a figure of €10million (£8.6million approx), though ‘there is nothing agreed or closed’.

While that would see Lenglet move on the cheap, it’s suggested the contact that is currently ongoing is in order to see an agreement that would be ‘beneficial for all parties’.

Postecoglou follows Conte lead

It was something of a surprise when Lenglet was on Tottenham’s released list at the end of the season. Indeed, reports had suggested they were ready to sign the defender, and Postecoglou had been hired by the time that list was released.

As such, it would have been fair to assume he might not have been signed, given he wasn’t by that point.

However, it seems Postecoglou – like his predecessor Antonio Conte who signed Lenglet on loan – sees a player that can impact his side.

Only four Premier League sides conceded more than Tottenham last season – three were relegated – so the defence will be closely watched.

Despite Lenglet being a part of that shoddy back line, Postecoglou clearly feels he can get more out of him alongside the other members of the defence than Conte could.

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