Barcelona sign free agent Depay until 2023
FC Barcelona and Memphis Depay have reached an agreement for the player to join the Club once his contract with Olympique Lyonnais is at an end. The player will sign a contract until the end of the 2022/23 season.
Memphis Depay (Moordrecht, Netherlands, 13 February 1994) started out at his hometown club VV Moordrecht. He was just nine when he joined Sparta Rotterdam, and from there moved on to PSV Eindhoven, which is where he made his Eredivisie debut. Coached by former Barça man Phillip Cocu, Depay soon became one of the biggest stars at Eindhoven.
His performances in the Dutch championship attracted attention abroad, and it was Manchester United who eventually secured him. At Old Trafford, and playing under Louis Van Gaal, he spent a season and a half before heading for Olympique Lyonnais in January 2017.
It was in France that he made his breakthrough. Highlights of his five and a half seasons included reaching the Champions League semi-finals and the Coupe de France Final in 2019/20, losing the latter on penalties to PSG.
He quickly became a regular for the Holland national team, where he has played under Ronald Koeman, and was in the side that finished third at the 2014 World Cup. He has already got on the scoresheet at the current Euro 2020.
Born in Holland but with Ghanaian father, he is a versatile forward. He tends to play on the left and can also work as a centre forward, but far from being a target man, he also likes to play a part in the build-up. He oozes skill and has a fine shot, and his physical strength makes him hard to deal with in the one-on-one.
His 22 goals made him top goalscorer in the Dutch league in 2014/15, his highest scoring season to date. But he came close to matching that tally in his final year in Lyon, scoring 20 times and finishing second in the charts. Where Depay truly excels is with assists – delivering 12 last season in France.
January 2025, indoors. With Álvaro Morata on his way out after clashes with Sergio Conceição, AC Milan were desperate for a centre-forward. Their gaze turned north, to the Netherlands. There was a striker in form, five goals in four Champions League...
Eddie Howe has hinted for the first time that he may be prepared to sanction Alexander Isak’s departure from Newcastle. The Swedish striker, who has long shown his discontent, told the club’s owners in a private meeting at his Northumberland home last Monday that...
According to El Chiringuito, negotiations over Vinícius Júnior’s new deal at Real Madrid have hit a standstill. The Brazilian star is under contract until 2027, and yesterday saw a meeting between the club’s hierarchy and the player’s...
Transfer sagas often hide remarkable stories, none more so than the revelation from Bild that Bayern Munich came close to signing Lamine Yamal back in 2022. The teenager, now regarded as Barcelona’s crown jewel and a future star of Spanish football, was on the brink of...
