While Memphis Depay arrived at Barcelona with much fanfare from Lyon, he has not been able to live up to the expectations of the club. He was counted upon and trusted by Xavi’s predecessor Ronald Koeman, but has seen a significant slump in his game time ever since the Dutch tactician made way for Xavi.
As a result, FC Barcelona have been looking for potential suitors for the Dutchman, in order to make space for more effective players in the squad, and gather some breathing space in regard to their wage bill.
Reports from Relevo and some other sources now claim that Memphis Depay is extremely close to an exit from Camp Nou, and is about to join their La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid. There were reports on such an operation being underway, but these reports claimed that the deal would be a swap of Memphis Depay for Yannick Carrasco.
However, the latest reports suggest that no such swap would take place, and Atletico would only pay a token amount of €3 million to sign the player from Barcelona.
Furthermore, Fernando Polo also reported that the Dutchman was absent from today’s training session, as he is preoccupied with this almost finished transfer business. The club also understands this situation and is unlikely to fine Depay for missing today’s session.
If these reports are to be believed, it can be easy to infer that the transfer is almost at the finishing stage, and only medical tests and formal signing is remaining for Depay to join Atletico Madrid.