Barcelona are in negotiations with Memphis Depay’s lawyers over the possibility of prematurely ending his contract with the club, confirms Fabrizio Romano. The Dutchman is not a first-team regular anymore after the arrivals of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in the summer. Depay has been linked with Manchester United and Chelsea, among other clubs, this summer.
Barcelona Negotiating Possibility of Making Memphis Depay a Free Agent
Excl: Barcelona and Memphis Depay lawyers are in negotiations to reach an agreement on free agency. No way for €20m fee. Depay will accept to leave Barça only in case he’ll find the right option for his future. 🚨 #FCB
Memphis Depay will only consider top clubs. pic.twitter.com/COFSiHdXBL
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 2, 2022
Depay Will Only Leave for a Top Club
The Spanish giants have clearly understood that they will not be able to find any club willing to pay the £16.5 million fee that they ideally want for the Dutch forward with only one year remaining on his contract. But they need to get him off their wage bill to help register all their new summer signings.
As a result, there are ongoing discussions about making him a free agent by terminating his contract. However, Depay isn’t going to leave Barcelona that easily, and he has set his own conditions to do so. He’ll only accept to have his contract ended if able to find the right option for his future.
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The 28-year-old is only going to accept offers from top European clubs in the event that he has to leave the Blaugrana. Barcelona even recently stripped the Dutchman of his no.9 shirt number – which they now want to give to Lewandowski – in an attempt to force him to leave.
Depay’s Short-Lived Career at Barcelona Nearing Its End
Depay was only signed by Barcelona last year when Ronald Koeman was still in charge of the club. They roped him in as a free agent after watching him impress at Olympique Lyonnais where he scored 76 goals and provided 55 assists in 178 appearances.
The 28-year-old was one of Barcelona’s best players in a disappointing season last time around. He scored 13 times and assisted twice in 37 appearances for them, ending their campaign as the joint-highest scorer alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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But with the La Liga side ‘upgrading’ their centre-forward position with a goal machine like Lewandowski and the left-wing with Raphinha, his services are no longer required. Depay, however, won’t leave that easily. He’ll only move to an elite European club that can match his trophy-winning ambitions.
