After two challenging seasons at Atlético de Madrid, Clément Lenglet is set to move on and join Portuguese giants Benfica, according to multiple reports Sunday.
ABC, Marca and AS all are reporting that Lenglet will leave Atlético to continue his career on the other side of the Iberian Peninsula. Benfica president Rui Costa on Saturday announced at the club’s General Assembly that the 38-time Portuguese champions would sign a new center-back in the coming days, and Portuguese outlets too are confirming
the defender is Lenglet.
Lenglet, 31, signed a three-year deal with Atlético last summer after agreeing a contract termination with FC Barcelona. With two seasons and €18 million in gross salary remaining on his contract, it had been thought that Lenglet would be difficult to move this summer after Atleti made such a strong financial commitment to him.
However, Benfica has appeared on the scene, and it seems just a matter of time until Lenglet’s arrival in Portugal is finalized. According to Nico Schira, Lenglet will join Benfica on a free transfer, though it is unclear as to whether he has terminated his Atleti contract or if the club simply is letting him leave without receiving a transfer fee.
Lenglet was the cheap “Plan B” after Atlético missed out on signing Dávid Hancko from Feyenoord in 2024; Hancko would join the following year instead. Though Diego Simeone publicly commended Lenglet for his professionalism, the 31-year-old struggled mightily with discipline and positional errors over his two seasons in Madrid; he picked up 21 yellow cards and two red cards in only 60 appearances for the club. Injuries and a lack of quality depth forced Lenglet into much more action than a defender of his level should have seen, though his distribution and pure passing ability were often the best of any Atleti center-back over the past 22 months.
Thanks to the salary his departure will free up, Mateu Alemany now has some wiggle room to sign a new center-back once the transfer window officially opens on Wednesday. The club could free up additional space if Josema Giménez (also under contract to 2028) leaves next month as well.
