Barcelona ask Atletico Madrid to double offer for summer target

Planning for next season is well underway for most clubs at this point, and one player in Atletico Madrid’s plans is Clement Lenglet. The French defender, on loan from Barcelona, has won a starting spot under Diego Simeone, and the Argentine manager is a fan of his.

Last month it was reported that Atletico intended to keep Lenglet, and had made an opening offer for the 29-year-old. During the summer it was reported that Lenglet extended his Barcelona deal until 2027 in order to faciliate a loan move. The Blaugrana are happy to move him on, as they are reportedly paying 75% of his salary still, which is believed to be amongst the most expensive in their squad.

Diego Simeone: “César [Azpilicueta] will NOT be with us tomorrow, but we’ll see if he can be available on Saturday.” pic.twitter.com/gAQgpMG6UM

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) February 24, 2025

However given his performances, neither are they looking to gift him to Atletico. Los Colchoneros most recent offer is around €5m between a fixed fee and variables say Sport, but Barcelona are looking for around €10m for his permanent services. They say that it would be ‘logical’ for a deal to be done for around €7-8m.

Lenglet is happy to move to Atletico on a permanent basis, and is reportedly willing to take a wage cut in order to make the move happen. The two clubs do have a rich history of business in recent years, most notably with the likes of Luis Suarez, David Villa and Antoine Griezmann.

Palmeiras have called off negotiations for Vitor Roque after being informed that La Liga would not approve the transfer due to bureaucratic issues. Despite having agreements in place with both Barça and Betis, the move is now off. The problem lies in Roque’s loan status: he…

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 24, 2025

If Lenglet does continue to perform at such a high level though, especially through Atletico’s gauntlet of fixtures in the next two months, Barcelona will wonder if they can find a buyer willing to put more money on the table for him. Clearly Lenglet would also have to be convinced, and the Frenchman may prefer to continue at Atletico, especially having moved around so much in recent years. Lenglet spent the previous two seasons on loan at Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.