Antonio Conte has reportedly made Barcelona's Clement Lenglet a top target for Spurs this summer, with it looking increasingly likely he'll arrive on loan for this upcoming season.
Spurs have already made two marquee signings this summer, with former Everton striker Richarlison joining Conte's squad on a five-year deal alongside Yves Bissouma from Brighton for £30m. The club has been without a trophy since 2008 but have been busy in the transfer market this summer as they look to build upon what is already a great selection of players.
After signing for Barcelona from Seville in 2018, Lenglet has quickly fallen out of favour under Xavi, making just seven starts in La Liga last season. According to Spanish outlet sport.es, a deal for the Frenchman would be a season-long loan with an option to buy for around £8.5m.
READ MORE: New Tottenham signing Richarlison set to miss opening day Southampton clash due to FA ban
So, how would Lenglet's impact at centre-back be felt in the Premier League? Can he help usher in a new era of Spurs glory and finally bring a much-wanted trophy to the club? We simulated the 2022/23 season to find out what Lenglet can do.
We 'signed' Lenglet for Spurs in the 2022 summer transfer window
For this simulation to happen, we used the in-game editor for Football Manager 2022 to allow the transfer of Lenglet to Spurs at the start of the 2022 summer transfer window.
While taking a closer look at his in-game stats, the 26-year-old is an out-and-out centre-back with the ability to fill in at left-back if required for Conte’s men. His great Tackling (16), Marking (15), Anticipation (15), Positioning (15), and Passing (14) shows his qualities, including winning the ball back and making key passes out from the back for a counterattack.
In 43 appearances, Lenglet scored once - a header in a 2-0 win over Fulham - and managed three assists. Defensively, he was solid alongside Cristian Romero, providing Spurs with expert tackling as shown by him leading across the league for Most Key Tackles Won with 13.
He also averaged a rating of 7.25, making him the third-best player in the squad behind Dejan Kulusevski (7.39), Heung-Min Son (7.35) and ahead of Harry Kane (7.21) and Bissouma (7.07).
He also led the squad by a huge margin in headers won, with 408 in all competitions, and the Frenchman was also lowest across all defenders at Spurs in fouls conceded (23). Lenglet's passing ability was also on display, with his 95% pass completion stat standing out amongst his teammates and the league in general. At the end of the season, FM22 put out the Best XI for the Spurs squad, pulling out player statistics, league data and other metrics to conclude. Here's Spurs' best XI from the 2022/23 season.
Full Spurs Best XI (4-3-3): Lloris; Royal, Romero, Lenglet, Sessegnon; Ademi, Bissouma, Højbjerg; Son, Kulusevski, Kane.
The new signings of Bissouma and Lenglet both made the Best XI alongside new defensive midfielder Arijan Ademi from Dinamo Zagreb. The staples of the squad like Son, Kane and Lloris feature, as well as Swede Kulusevski.
So, how did Lenglet's arrival impact Spurs at the end of the season? Let's find out.
Spurs' 2022/23 season overall from the simulation
In the league, Spurs finished with 66 points, five less than they had last season in real life, but it was still enough for fourth place and a second Champions League spot in a row. A 3-1 win against Leeds on the final day of the season was enough to make sure they finished three points clear of Manchester United and Arsenal. The high number of draws - 12 across the season - showed a lack of decisiveness as there were many instances of letting leads slip away late in the game.
Domestic competitions didn’t go their way either - a fifth-round exit in the FA Cup on penalties to North London rivals Arsenal left a bitter taste in the mouth of fans despite being 1-0 up after 20 minutes. The Carabao Cup was much the same - a 3-0 loss in the Fourth Round to Man United meant a very disappointing domestic cup campaign for Conte’s men.
In their continental competition, Spurs made it out of their Champions League Group C, finishing second with 10 points behind group winners Bayern Munich. But, they crashed out of the first knockout round following a Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 comeback in the second leg, having won the first leg 2-0 at home.
Overall, Spurs and Lenglet could be a pretty good match, all things considered - a Champions League spot ahead of rivals Arsenal and United, but that trophy still evaded them. Maybe Lenglet can go a few steps further in real life with the club and help bring them glory in the 2022/23 season, should he sign, and potentially Spurs could do even better with a few more new signings in other areas.
Let us know if you want Clement Lenglet at Spurs in the comments below!
