It may not feel like that long, but Clement Lenglet has been at Barcelona for four years. Although he struggled to convince under Ronald Koeman, there’s no doubt that he is enduring his darkest spell in Catalonia under Xavi Hernandez.
Since signing from Sevilla in 2018, Lenglet has always been at least a regular in the rotation for Barcelona. At times, he was also the preferred partner next to Gerard Pique.
Since the advent of Xavi however, his role has been dramatically reduced. The emergence of Ronald Araujo and the arrival of Eric Garcia has seen Lenglet’s game time plummet this season.
As Sport note, he has played just 92 minutes this calendar year. Those come stretched out across five appearances, while his last start was in December. With three centre-backs ahead of him, Garcia, Araujo and Pique, it seems unlikely that Lenglet will be racking up many more before the end of the season if they all remain fit.
A player that had become a regular inclusion in Didier Deschamps’ France squad at one point, Lenglet will no doubt be looking to move on in the summer if the situation continues. At the age of 26, the former Nancy man should be coming into his prime years.
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