FC Barcelona and Memphis Depay have reached an agreement for the player to join the Spanish club, following the end of his contract with Olympique Lyonnais.
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FC Barcelona and Memphis Depay have reached an agreement for the player to join the Spanish club, following the end of his contract with Olympique Lyonnais. The player will sign a contract until the end of the 2022/23 season. Depay is the 16th Dutchman to wear the Blaugrana jersey since the turn of the century and the fourth new signing to the squad this summer. The footballer is currently representing the Netherlands in Euro 2020, where they are unbeaten so far. Depay has been a key performer in the ongoing edition.
“It’s literally a dream come true for me to join the biggest club in the world, with the greatest fans. I’m so excited to play in front of a full stadium. Barca fans are obviously very special, the way they live the game, experience the game, and they love football so much. I want to thank the whole board of Barcelona and the president and the coach for making the deal happen. Together with my team they reached a final agreement so I’m very excited about it, and proud. I’m going to do everything, give everything for the club. So, I’m ready. Visca el Barca!,” he said as quoted by FC Barcelona’s official website.
Depay scored 20 goals in the previous season for Lyon. He further delivered 12 assists in his last season in France. The footballer’s best season so far as a goalscorer was in the Dutch league in 2014/15, which is his highest-scoring season to date.
Depay started his journey as a footballer at hometown club VV Moordrecht. He was just nine when he joined Sparta Rotterdam. The footballer moved on to PSV Eindhoven from the club, which is where he made his Eredivisie debut. Coached by former Barcelona man Phillip Cocu, Depay soon became one of the biggest stars at Eindhoven.
His performances in the Dutch championship attracted attention abroad, with numerous clubs showing their interest in securing his services. It was Manchester United who eventually secured Depay’s signature, with the footballer spending a season and a half at the club. The Netherlands footballer made his presence felt at Old Trafford under Louis Van Gaal, before heading for Olympique Lyonnais in January 2017.
It was in France where he achieved the most success with reaching the Champions League semi-finals and the Coupe de France Final in 2019/20, some of the highlights of his five and a half seasons.
Depay is also a regular for the Holland national team. He was a key member of the team under Ronald Koeman and was a part of the side that finished third at the 2014 World Cup. Depay is a versatile forward who tends to play on the left and can also work as a centre forward, but far from being a target man, he also likes to play a part in the build-up. The Netherlands footballer oozes skill and has a fine shot. Not only this, his physical strength makes him hard to deal with in a one-on-one. This will be the fourth different league that he has competed in. In the current Barcelona squad, only Philippe Coutinho and Martin Braithwaite have played in that many, and nobody has played in more.
