Memphis Depay could go to Atlético de Madrid in the winter market, as long as FC Barcelona manages to agree terms that satisfy the interests of culés and ‘rojiblancos’. The departure of Joao Félix to Chelsea leaves the ‘colchoneros’ short of forwards, but Barça does not have plenty of options in attack, far from it after the sanctions against Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
In that sense, if the man from Moordretch finally went to Atleti, His transfer hardly takes place before January 29. Xavi has the Dutchman for the matches against Getafe (January 22 at home) and Girona (January 29, away), two clashes in which the ‘9’ and the ’11’ will not be present. With Ansu Fati, Raphinha and Ousmane Dembélé as the only strikers, Barça cannot afford to do without Depayat least not at this time.
Another key factor in the operation has to do with economics. Barça already made efforts in the summer to transfer Memhpis, but the striker ruled out going to Juventus for demanding a very high salary. The Dutchman’s insistence on not renewing to leave with a letter of freedom in summer has tightened the rope between the parties, so a transfer in which Atleti assumes the entirety of its record would not be enough to resolve the ‘soap opera’.
On the contrary, Barça hopes to keep an ‘ace’ up its sleeve that would have to do with securing a percentage for a future sale of Depay, for which the 28-year-old player should commit to signing a contract with the ‘colchoneros’ in July. For their part, Atlético have Borja Iglesias as their number 1 option in terms of strikers, but Betis insists on not letting him go for less than his release clause (100 million euros).
Depay will have the last word
As in previous operations, Memphis will be the one who decides, finally, if the transfer is made or not. The striker is still determined leave Barça with a letter of freedom to negotiate a high salary and receive a bonus for his new contract, conditions that Atlético will hardly accept. The Dutchman earns 4.6 ‘kilos’ per season as a culé, a figure similar to the one he rejected in the summer by Juve.
