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Ronald Koeman has admitted that Barcelona plan to approach Lyon to sign Memphis Depay in January after losing him during the summer transfer window. The forward revealed that he had reached an agreement on personal terms with the Catalan club, but a move never materialized before the deadline.
Koeman was hoping to sign a forward during the summer window after allowing Luis Suárez to leave and, after his pursuit of Lautaro Martínez stalled, Barcelona went after Depay.
“That is certainly a possibility, yes,” he said in an interview with the Dutch publication Algemeen Dagblad.
“I will try [to sign Depay in January] because I would like to have it here.
“But I cannot say now what the financial situation of the club will be like in January. We will have to wait and see. It does not depend on me, it depends on the club.”
“For me, it’s just a matter of waiting. We wanted Memphis because he’s a great player and because he has qualities that, in my opinion, we lack. Especially depth in the attack game.
“Most of Barcelona’s attackers want the ball at their feet. Memphis can be used as an outlet, but it is also capable of going behind.
“He is strong, dynamic and can play as well as a forward or as a left winger.”
Koeman offered a few more details on why Depay’s move failed in the summer.
“Of course, I shared my ideas with him beforehand,” Koeman added.
“To begin with, everything was ready, but, due to LaLiga rules, we knew we had to sell a player first. In the end, it didn’t happen.
“It’s a shame, but Memphis also knew what the situation was.”
Koeman cleared up Barcelona’s pursuit of Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum amid reports that the transfer was hinged on Lionel Messi’s future at the Camp Nou.
“In my mind, I always assumed he would stay,” Koeman said of Messi.
“If Messi had left, it would have opened up a completely different situation.
“Our interest in Wijnaldum, in any case, was separate from [Messi]. Overall, I think our team could have done it with a little more depth, especially without the ball.
“Gini has a great special conscience. He can enter the area fantastically well from the center of the park. He really could have brought something to the team.
But the club knew the economic situation. [Wijnaldum]Position was less of a priority at the end than, for example, a right back or a center forward. “
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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