Romero clone, Vidic 2.0: The players Paratici ignored to bring Lenglet to Tottenham - opinion

Spurs manager, Antonio Conte, signed a new centre-back last week in the shape of Clement Lenglet, for his three-at-the-back system. 

Lenglet will join Spurs next season, on loan from Barcelona without an option to buy, but how does the performance of five other centre-backs linked to the club compare? Let’s assess the decision to sign the Frenchman by Fabio Paratici versus other centre-back competition.

In comparison with the other contenders, Lenglet was a surprising choice of signing for Spurs’ new centre-back. With only seven starts and 14 sub appearances last season, it’s safe to say that Lenglet has fallen out of favour at Barcelona.  This shows in his low market value at only £10.8m.

Lenglet didn’t score last term but did achieve one assist.  In addition, the 27-year-old Frenchman won 20 tackles, 13 interceptions and 93 duels. These stats are not too bad considering his lack of playing time under new Barca boss Xavi. 

Lenglet’s speciality is his versatile passing ability, using both short and long-range passes to successfully progress the ball up the pitch.  His 6 foot 1 height advantage has also helped him to win 39% of his aerial duels last campaign. A piece of his game he needs to work on is his concentration, as he’s often caught off-guard. He also draws a lot of fouls – committing a total of 19 in 2021/22.

Bremer, a 25-year-old centre-back from Brazil, is valued at £31.5m and was linked with Tottenham earlier this summer. The defensive player of the year last season, in the Serie A, he has the fifth highest duels won in the League, including 47% successful aerial duels.

His aerial dominance comes into play from corners from which he has scored three headers in 2021/22.  A key strength is his physicality