Good News For Barca, $35M Target Hints He Can Still Complete Nou Camp Move

Lyon forward Memphis Depay, who was tipped to join FC Barcelona at the recently ended summer market, has revealed he is “definitely leaving” the French club at the next transfer window.

The Ligue 1 side, Lyon, may opt to sell Depay at the next transfer window in January 2021 instead of allowing the Dutch forward to leave as a free agent in the summer.

"We'll see what happens. We'll be in January soon. We'll have to wait and see how things go. It's not that I'm definitely leaving, but there will probably be clubs [after me] soon. I'm 26 and almost a free agent, so you can expect clubs to be interested, right?" Depay was recently quoted by Spanish media outlet Marca.

When Ronald Koeman took charge as Barcelona’s new head coach ahead of the 2020-21 season, one of his top targets was Lyon’s Depay. After Barcelona failed to sign Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan, the Nou Camp side were believed to have shifted focus to Depay. But it was earlier reported that due to "certain rules" the transfer did not go through. However, after Depay’s latest statement, Barcelona could be hopeful of finally getting their target forward after two months.

Depay, who is currently on international duty with the Netherlands national team playing in the UEFA Nations League, also said that "everything happens for a reason" referring to his failed move to Barcelona even though he wanted it.

"Everything was done, really. Some regulations stopped it from being completed. I was waiting for the green light, but I kept training. It's not that I had a phone in my tracksuit bottoms on the training pitch. Everything happens for a reason," added Depay.

Depay, who earlier played for Manchester United, moved to Lyon in 2017, and ever since, he has climbed up in his career. Across the last three seasons, Depay netted 49 goals. In the 2019-20 campaign, Depay became just the second Dutch player to score in six consecutive Champions League games, after Ruud van Nistelrooy.