Barcelona loanee will continue in the Premier League despite AC Milan interest

Coming into the January transfer window, there had been a lot of talk surrounding Barcelona loanee Clement Lenglet and his lack of minutes at Aston Villa.

The French defender has found game-time hard to come by in Unai Emery’s side since joining on loan from Barça and as such there was talk about him being recalled and then sent out on loan to a different club in the ongoing transfer window.

There were reports of serious interest from Serie A giants AC Milan as well, with the Rossoneri understood to be eager to secure his services.

Lenglet likely to remain at Aston Villa

But as per Toni Juanmarti of SPORT, as things stand, Lenglet is expected to stay put at Aston Villa for the remainder of the season despite interest from AC Milan.

Despite the defender’s limited role in Unai Emery’s squad, the Premier League club are keen to keep him on, on the basis that they do not want to see the squad weakened.

Lenglet has only played three Premier League games and all of them in the last three rounds, meaning he had to wait until December to get his first appearance in the league.

This led to frustration building within the defender, prompting him to consider a change of scenery to gain prominence again.

Milan, who have suffered losses in defence, were one of the clubs most interested in acquiring his services. However, the numbers did not add up, as the Rossoneri could not afford the operation, especially in terms of salary.

Other clubs also asked about Lenglet, but the finances involved meant that they backed out and with Villa now not keen on letting go of him, the defender seems set to see out the season at Villa Park.