Barcelona to secure Lyon striker Memphis Depay amidst Luis Suarez’s exit

Ronald Koeman’s transfer target Memphis Depay will be joining Barcelona.

What looks to be a done deal, Memphis Depay will soon be on his way from Lyon to Barcelona according to Mike Verweij of De Telegraaf. The Dutch winger was arguably Ronald Koeman’s number one target. After letting Luis Suarez know that his services will no longer be required by the club, Koeman was desperately looking for his replacement. Although a lot of news suggested that it was gonna be Lautaro Martinez who would be replacing the Uruguayan striker, it now seems as if Depay is the one who will be replacing the aging superstar at the Nou Camp.

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According to De Telegraaf, the French side agreed to a 25 million euro deal for the ex-Manchester United player. The deal will come with more incentives like an extra 5 million which will be paid next year and also 2 million in bonuses, making the deal very lucrative for the French side. The deal is expected to be officially announced within this week and Depay by the looks of it will become a Barcelona player before the official start of the next season.

The versatile winger is likely to replace the departing Suarez and even though Depay is not a conventional or rather a traditional striker, he has the ability to play as a center-forward if required. In fact, Depay plays the majority of his games in that position for Lyon. The player also has prior experience of working with Koeman., when the Dutch coach used to work with him in the Netherland national team and was planning to build the team around him, however, he could not resist his dream job at Barca once it came knocking on his doorsteps.

There is no doubt that Depay is a potent goal scorer and even though he suffered a torrid time in Manchester; if he can bring his wonderful form to the Catalan side, the club would benefit a lot. Depay already has three goals in two games in the 2020/21 season and Koeman will be hopeful that the player can continue performing in the same manner.

It will be interesting to see what further issues his arrival could cause as Suarez is not the only one competing for the no. 9 roles. Both Martin Braithwaite and Antoine Griezmann will largely be affected by this transfer and Koeman will have an impossible task in hand trying to satisfy everyone’s needs.

Will Depay be as successful as Suarez at Barca?