Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery has spoken out with plenty of praise for Clement Lenglet amidst transfer rumours of his loan being cut short.
The Aston Villa back line has been consistent and successful so far this season, meaning little changes have been made.
This has especially been the case with the centre-back partnerships. With Unai Emery opting to keep Pau Torres at the heart of the defence, there has been one spot available.
Alongside him, either Diego Carlos or Ezri Konsa have taken the mantle of right centre back. This has seen Villa concede just 25 goals in 19 Premier League games which is the joint fourth least in the division.
With that being said, the past two games have seen Clement Lenglet come into the side for the injured Torres. There has been plenty of speculation linking the Frenchman away from Villa Park in recent months.
What has Unai Emery said about Clement Lenglet?
Last week, it was reported that AC Milan had an interest in the Villa loanee, such was his lack of minutes in B6 this season. Since then he has played two games and performed well in spite of some lacklustre results.
With a 7.0 FotMob rating in both the Sheffield and Manchester United games, he has ranked in the top three or four starters in both. This hasn’t seen speculation linking Lenglet with a move away from the Midlands halt.
Despite this, speaking with the Birmingham Mail, Emery has made his feelings about the loanee defender clear.
On that, he said: “I am very happy with him. His commitment in every training session is amazing. He is a very good professional and always ready to play. The last matches he was sick, he was with us in Zrinjski. He was better at Brentford but still a little bit sick.
“Other players maybe wouldn’t be with the squad if they were feeling like he was. I am wishing to see him and am really very excited about how he will help us and in the next matches.”
It is unfortunate that prior to last week, Lenglet hadn’t featured in a Premier League game. In saying that, this past two games have shown exactly why is is going to be an integral player for the Villans this season.
This was made clear by Emery, who added: “I want to keep him because we need players for the challenges we are going to face this season.”
With FA Cup and Europa Conference League commitments coming up to add to league games, a squad is going to be necessary. Lenglet will be important to any success this season, whether he plays too many games or not.
