Barcelona have agreed to let Memphis Depay go to Atletico Madrid this winter transfer window.
Depay is coming to Madrid for medical examination, signing contract and debuting with Atletico
Memphis Depay joined Barcelona in the summer 2021 transfer window on a free basis. After a year and a half of sticking, the Dutch player is about to part with the Camp Nou team because it is not in the plan of coach Xavi.
According to transfer tycoon Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona has closed an agreement to sell the 28-year-old striker to Atletico Madrid. The fee for this deal is only about 3 to 4 million euros.
The reason why Barcelona sold Depay cheaply to avoid losing the former Lyon and Man Utd striker after this season. Depay’s contract with the Catalan team expires in June 2023.
As for Memphis Depay, the 28-year-old striker has reached all personal terms with Atletico. According to Sport, the Dutch player signed a contract until June 2025 with the Madrid team. However, as revealed by journalist Fabrizio Romano, Depay’s contract is valid until June 2028.
Before agreeing to sell Depay at such a cheap price, Barcelona negotiated to exchange the 28-year-old striker for Atletico’s Carrasco. However, the deal failed because coach Diego Simeone did not want to lose the Belgium international. Los Rojiblancos made it difficult for the Blaugrana to value Carrasco up to 60 million euros.
Speaking more about Barcelona pushing Depay away, according to Spanish media, one of the reasons why the 28-year-old striker could not stay at Camp Nou was because of a bad relationship in the dressing room. Thus, Depay will leave Barca after a turbulent year.
Depay used to be the mainstay of Barcelona under coach Koeman but lost his position when Xavi took over. In total, the former Man Utd striker only scored 14 goals and had 2 assists in 42 matches with the Blaugrana in all competitions. The 2022-23 Spanish Super Cup is the only title Depay has won with Barca.
