Aston Villa will speak to Barcelona about €8 million defender before January window, AC Milan keen on loan

Barcelona have to, and should quickly start working on exit operations as the January, and then the summer window creeps in.

They need to raise money through player sales if they want to cover the gaping holes in the squad.

While there are players that will most likely exit the team in the summer,

like Sergi Roberto and Marcos Alonso, who are on the last six months of their contract with Barcelona,

there are players that are surplus to requirements and need addressing.

This includes a certain Clement Lenglet, who is currently on loan at Aston Villa. He spent the last season at Tottenham Hotspur,

who eventually decided against purchasing him in the summer.

His time in Birmingham is not going well, either, and as he is yet to play a single minute in the Premier League this season.

In fact, his only minutes have come in the UEFA Conference League this season,

where he has started and played all five games, keeping one clean sheet.

Lenglet is understandably not happy with this situation, and is looking for a way out,

with AC Milan one of the parties interested in exercising a loan deal for him in January.

And according to a recent update from Fabrizio Romano,

Aston Villa will speak to Barcelona and Lenglet’s camp before the January transfer window starts to address Lenglet’s situation.

An early loan termination is considered likely at this stage.

Milan remain keen on the deal, but want to understand the terms of the loan.

AC Milan’s defensive situation

Milan have been very unlucky with injuries this season, especially to their backline.

Malick Thiaw and Pierre Kalulu are out for an extensive period of time,

while Marco Pellegrino has been sidelined since early November.

They are looking for a centre-back desperately, and therefore, are interested in bringing in Lenglet.

Serie A’s pace could definitely allow Lenglet to flourish at the Italian capital, especially

as part of the three-back defence Stefano Pioli has been using recently.

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However, it seems unlikely that the seven-time UCL winners will want to spend much,

if at all, on purchasing Lenglet permanently.