The French defender has made a decision over his future.
Lenglet has made it clear to Sevilla that he wants to join Barcelona with a five-year deal close to being finalised, according to Sport. His buyout clause is 35 million euros, which is a relatively cheap price for someone of his quality and potential.
Sevilla have started their pre-season early because they have Europa League qualification fixtures to prepare for due to finishing seventh in the league last season. The desire from the Frenchman to get the deal done is a promising sign because he clearly wants to get the maximum out of pre-season with the Catalans.
They will be hoping to avoid the turbulence of last season, when they had three separate managers, with the appointment of former Girona manager Pablo Machin. He wants to get the Lenglet deal completed as quickly as possible, so he has a settled squad and he can start implementing his ideas. Girona finished 10th in their first season in the top division, which suggests that Machin has a promising managerial career ahead of him.
Lenglet featured heavily last season with 51 appearances across the three major competitions. He only missed three games in the league, so his departure will be a blow for Sevilla. Since Monchi left the club their transfer record has been patchy, so they may find it tough to replace the French defender on the cheap.
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Lenglet’s role
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The hierarchy of centre-backs is unlikely to change drastically with Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti being first choice. However, Lenglet will be a capable deputy to rely on and should be ahead of Thomas Vermaelen in the pecking order. They are both left-footed, so they are unlikely to have a specific centre-back who they replace in the starting XI.
Left-footed centre-backs are quite rare, but Barcelona have a problem in that they have a number of options. Pique and Yerry Mina are the only right-footed players they have in this position. The Colombian defender could be leaving, which presents an issue. It can be hard for left-footers to adapt to playing on the right because their speciality means they often play in their desired position.
This could influence Barcelona to sign another right-footed centre-back or at least keep Yerry Mina at the club. The 23-year-old struggled in his first half season, but he has a lot of potential and patience could be the best course of action in regards to him. Depth in this area is generally good, though, because it ensures that Ernesto Valverde has plenty of options to rotate through during the season.