After years of back and forth —more like a summer soap opera than a professional defender— Clément Lenglet and FC Barcelona have made their contractual divorce official. The Frenchman is free to sign with Atlético de Madrid, his last loaned team. An announced, necessary and, curiously, beneficial ending for everyone.

End of cycle: Barça and Lenglet break their bond

Clément Lenglet is no longer a player of FC Barcelona. The club and the French defender have reached an agreement in principle to terminate the contract that linked them until 2027. Behind are 160 official matches, three titles and a story increasingly distant from that exciting signing in 2018. What promised to be a perfect marriage ended up being a relationship of convenience… economic.

The termination will allow the player to sign as a free agent with Atlético de Madrid, a team with which he has played this last season and where he has been a useful piece for Simeone. A verbal “yes, I do” that could become official before June 15, just in time to play the Club World Cup with the 'colchoneros'.

From promise to salary burden: a textbook case

Lenglet arrived at Barça in the midst of the post-Neymar effervescence, when the club still lived as if money sprouted from the lawn. His contract, with an annual salary of 16 million euros gross, became over the years more of a shackle than a medal.

Neither Hansi Flick nor the current sports management counted on him, and his loan to Atlético (after two others to Tottenham and Aston Villa) was evidence that Barça saw him more as a file than as a project. Releasing salary mass was as urgent as it was inevitable.

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Atlético sets the pace for Lenglet: complex conditions for Barça

Everyone wins… or at least no one loses

The operation has been an exercise in realism: Lenglet accepted

a strong salary reduction, Barça pays only a part of what is owed, and Atlético takes an experienced central defender without transfer cost. A love triangle resolved with pragmatism.

The agreement leaves Barça with a little more financial air and Atlético with a token ready to perform from the first day of preseason. Lenglet, meanwhile, finally finds stability in a club where he has already proven to be useful, although not stellar.

 

Lenglet, from Camp Nou to Metropolitano

Lenglet's journey at Barça went from more to less, like a wine that promised reserve but ended up in tetrapack. His departure leaves no tears or grudges, only the feeling that everything has followed its natural course.

In an era where financial fair play is the new VAR, this type of departure is more a matter of survival than strategy. Lenglet will continue his career at Atlético de Madrid, and Barça continues to rebuild piece by piece, contract by contract.

Clément Lenglet's honors at FC Barcelona: titles and legacy

He was not the most mediatic, nor the most acclaimed. But Clément Lenglet knew how to leave his mark on the defense of FC Barcelona. Between ups and downs, the French defender accumulated minutes, titles and matches with a constancy that, in modern football, is almost a rarity.

Clément Lenglet's titles with FC Barcelona

Clément Lenglet was part of the FC Barcelona squad from the 2018-2019 season to the 2021-2022 season, a period of lights and shadows for both the club and the player. However, in that interval, the French central defender contributed to the achievement of three official titles:

  • La Liga: Champion in the 2018-2019 season, being a recurring piece in the defense.

  • Copa del Rey: Triumph in the 2020-2021 edition, where Barça won with authority in the final against Athletic Club.

  • Spanish Super Cup: Won in 2018, as part of the start of his 'azulgrana' journey.

These trophies place Lenglet in a curious category: that of the effective, but silent player, whose contribution is measured more in stability than in applause.