Barcelona Still Want To Sign Ex-Manchester United Striker And Liverpool’s Target: Report

FC Barcelona are reportedly still interested in signing Lyon’s Memphis Depay who is also now one of Liverpool FC’s target ahead of 2021 summer.

With Barcelona suffering a major financial debt because of the pandemic, the club is planning to make smart recruitments this summer. They have not given up on Depay majorly because he is set to become a free agent at the end of the ongoing campaign, according to French media outlet RMC Sport.

Last October, Depay was believed to be close to moving to Camp Nou but the deal did not materialize. It was reported that Barcelona failed to land Depay, who was one of Ronald Koeman’s top targets after Ousmane Dembele had refused to join Manchester United on loan. Barcelona could not make space for Dembele’s transfer in their budget because of Dembele’s last-minute decision ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Depay and Koeman worked together at the Netherlands national team between 2018 and 2020 when the latter was the head coach. Having scored 23 goals in 62 matches for the Dutch team, Depay is counted among the talented forwards of this generation.

Depay’s first stint in the Premier League was not a very memorable one when he joined Manchester United. After kickstarting his senior career at the club PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Depay moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2015. In his maiden season in Manchester, he netted seven goals in 45 competitive appearances. In the following campaign, he failed to go off the mark in the eight matches he played in and during the 2017 January transfer window, Depay was offloaded to Lyon.

It was previously reported this season that even Jurgen Klopp is looking to sign Depay at Liverpool as he is versatile and has the ability to play anywhere across the front three. At present, Diogo Jota plays a similar role and has given Klopp the freedom to play him on either wing or even through the center. It is understood that Liverpool could also see Depay as an ideal replacement for their No. 9 Roberto Firmino.

In the ongoing campaign, Depay has been involved in 29 goals at Lyon -- 20 goals and 9 assists. Overall, Depay has scored 74 goals and 52 assists for Lyon since his debut at the French side in 2017.