Spanish Publication Claims Barcelona Have Followed Highly Rated Sevilla Star Since He Was Just 16

Barcelona have reportedly been keeping tabs on Sevilla defender Clement Lenglet since the tender age of 16 whilst he was playing for Nancy.

The centre-half is recognised in Spain as being one of the most promising young defenders in the country, and his recent performance against the Catalans was further evidence of that.

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Lenglet, who is now 22, had the chance to join Italian giants Juventus at the age of 18 but rejected it. He joined Sevilla in January of this year for a paltry €5m.

As reported by Spanish publication Sport, the Blaugrana have a long-standing interest in the player, and were even in contact with the player towards the end of the 2017 summer transfer window.

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Should Barca move for the player and be successful in their approach, then it could signal the beginning of the end for Gerard Pique, who is the wrong side of 30, just as the signing of Samuel Umtiti has limited Javier Mascherano's game time.

He would become the fourth Frenchmen in their ranks with Umtiti, Lucas Digne and Ousmane Dembele having all signed for the club in the past couple of seasons.

Lenglet has made a solid start to his Sevilla career, but Sport seem to think that Barca may not be able to wait too much longer to sign him.