The 27-year old Dutch winger is on his way to Camp Nou as a free agent on a two-year contract.
Netherlands’ star has been linked with FC Barcelona since last summer and the deal has finally gone through to join the star-studded side at the Camp Nou. After running down his contract with Lyon, Memphis Depay joins the Catalan side as a free agent and becomes the fourth signing of the summer for Barcelona joining players like Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, and Emerson Royal.
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In his time at Lyon, Depay scored a total of 76 goals in 178 appearances in all competitions. The 20-21 season for him was one of his career-best performances, netting a total of 20 times in Ligue 1 and while also bagging 12 assists.
Depay was approached by several other European giants like PSG but the clubs never made an official offer. Memphis meanwhile has always been clear about his intentions of playing at Barcelona and perhaps one other factor that influenced the Dutch winger to join the Spanish side was FC Barcelona’s current manager Ronald Koeman.
Koeman’s spell as Netherlands manager had a big influence in developing Depay as a player. In those two years, Depay played a very crucial role, scoring eleven goals in the eighteen matches he played under Ronald Koeman before the manager moved to Barcelona last summer.
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Depay is excited to play for Barcelona and he believes that it is the perfect place for him to be. He told reporters on his signing, “In my career there have always been ups and downs, good and bad moments, and all that makes you learn. That is why I think that arriving at Barça is a great step forward in my career.”
We can’t wait to see this chapter unfold and also whether this will further prompt Lionel Messi to stick around and make another push for La Liga & Champions League glory.
[Image Credit: Memphis Depay]
Shashank Iyer