Barcelona’s latest move in the transfer market, the signing of Robert Lewandowski, appears to be all but done after a flood of reports on Friday evening. It is a move that is being greeted with euphoria by many in Catalonia, but one man in particular may see it with a sour tint.
Dutch forward Memphis Depay was Barcelona’s top scorer last season, but it appears he might have made his last contribution to Barcelona. With the arrival of Lewandowski, Memphis has become the number one candidate to exit Barcelona’s frontline as a consequence, as per Sport.
The Blaugrana are looking for a minimum of €20m for his transfer, something that has not gone down well with Memphis’ camp. He has a year left on his contract and was hoping, if a move had to be made, that it would be cut-price. Having given up money to go to Barcelona, Memphis would then be able to financially benefit from a move and would have more opportunities as a result.
Not only could Barcelona do with the financial boost a Memphis move would bring, they could now do with thinning out their squad a little. With Lewandowski adding to Memphis, Martin Braithwaite, Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Raphinha and Ousmane Dembele, it leaves Barcelona with eight forwards for three positions. Memphis and Braithwaite are the two Barcelona want to move on.
There is a risk that Barcelona once again find themselves held hostage to a player’s wishes. The Catalans have struggled to move on a number of players in recent years and it may be that Memphis decides to see out his contract next year rather than assent to Barcelona’s plans.
