Barcelona striker Memphis Depay has reportedly emerged as a potential transfer target for Ligue 1 giants Olympique de Marseille this summer.
According to French journalist, Romain Canuti on Twitter, Ligue 1 outfit Olympique de Marseille are considering making a play to sign Barcelona and Netherlands forward Memphis Depay in the ongoing transfer window.
Depay joined Barcelona only last summer, arriving from Olympique Lyon as a free agent after his contract expired. The 28-year-old Dutchman enjoyed a fairly decent debut campaign in Catalonia, finishing with 13 goals and two assists in 37 appearances across all competitions.
Depay experienced a drop in his game-time towards the latter half of the campaign after the arrivals of Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Barcelona are planning to sign Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in the ongoing transfer window while they could also re-sign Ousmane Dembele on a new contract.
In such a scenario, Depay would further fall down the pecking order at Camp Nou. And with his contract expiring in the summer of 2023, the Blaugrana are willing to sell him for a fee of around €20 million, with Tottenham already lodging an enquiry for the Dutchman.
Now Marseille have entered the race to try and sign Depay and take him back to France. As per the report from Romain Canuti, the Ligue 1 club’s president, Pablo Longoria, will ‘do everything to set up a nice modern deal’ with Barcelona for the signing of the 28-year-old Netherlands international.
Marseille enjoyed a solid 2021/22 season as they finished as runners-up in Ligue 1, securing Champions League football for the upcoming season. And to continue their upward trajectory, the French giants are intent on bolstering the quality and depth of their roster, with Depay emerging as an option for them.
To that end, Longoria is looking to trim down Marseille’s wage bill to create room for new arrivals such as Depay. However, whether they can manage to fulfil the former Manchester United striker’s salary demands would be the big question, especially with clubs like Tottenham, who can afford to pay his wages in full, also interested in signing him.
Depay, for his part, has maintained that he wishes to continue at Barcelona. But with the Catalans likely to be overloaded in the attacking department, he could leave in search of more regular game-time. Whether a return to France is an option he considers remains to be seen.
