Liverpool Plan To Sign Ex-Man Utd Striker Who Has Been Barcelona, Koeman’s Top Target: Report

Liverpool FC are reportedly going after Memphis Depay, who has been one of FC Barcelona’s top targets in recent times.

Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman wanted to sign his compatriot Depay last summer, but the deal was blocked because of the Catalans’ financial issues. Depay is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2020-21 campaign and Liverpool could look to give the player a second chance in the Premier League, Spanish publication Marca reported.

Depay’s first stint in the Premier League was with Manchester United. After starting his senior career at the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, Depay moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2015. He scored seven goals in 45 competitive appearances in his first season in Manchester. In the following campaign, he failed to go off the mark in eight matches he played in and during the 2017 January transfer window, Depay was offloaded to Lyon.

Koeman and Depay worked together during the former’s stint as the Netherlands’ head coach between 2018 and 2020. Having made 63 appearances for the Dutch national team, the 27-year-old Depay is now considered among the current crop of talented forwards. It was reported Barcelona had planned to loan Ousmane Dembele off to Manchester United last summer to make space in wages for Depay. Unfortunately, Dembele refused to move to Old Trafford at the last minute, leaving Barcelona furious as they could not sign their target Depay from Lyon.

Having made 169 appearances for Lyon, across all competitions, Depay has been involved in 121 goals, netting 69 out of those, while providing 52 assists. This has been a massive improvement from his time at Manchester United, where he had scored 7 and 0 goals along with six assists he had provided in the two campaigns he was a part of.

While Depay has been most effective on the left wing, the Holland forward is known to be versatile and has the ability to play anywhere across the front three and that quality will come in handy for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. 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.

With Depay and Jota, Liverpool will have more tactical flexibility and more importantly, Liverpool could see the Dutchman as an ideal long-term replacement for their No. 9 Roberto Firmino.