Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed the details of a conversation he had with Barcelona regarding Memphis Depay's potential transfer to Camp Nou. Contrary to numerous reports that emerged on Tuesday, the 71-year-old businessman claimed that the Dutchman's departure is not imminent as Los Blaugrana do not have money to fund the move.
After rediscovering his form at Lyon following a disappointing spell with Manchester United, Depay is on the verge of making yet another massive leap in his career. The 26-year-old winger has been identified as a priority transfer target for new Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman and is expected to depart from his Ligue 1 club before the transfer window closes this summer.
A report by Dutch paper De Telegraaf on Tuesday morning claimed that Lyon had accepted a €30 million bid from Barcelona for their skipper. The outlet suggested that the initial offer was €25 million, with the €5 million captured in performance-related add-ons.
While it was claimed that Depay could be unveiled as a Barca player as early as this week, President Jean-Michel Aulas says that nothing of sort is happening any time soon. He took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to deny the information, saying: "President [Josep Maria] Bartomeu told me on Sunday that Barca are suffering a lot from the Covid crisis and that it isn't possible for them to make an offer."
Memphis kost Barcelona 30 miljoen euro | Voetbal | https://t.co/ENn92q9lkf @ol @Le_Progres Le président du Barça m'a indiqué dès dimanche que le Barça souffrait beaucoup d la crise du Covid et n'avait pas de possibilité de faire une offre.#memphis https://t.co/R1eGdE276j
— Jean-Michel AULAS (@JM_Aulas) September 15, 2020
With Barcelona set to offload as many as 12 players this summer, it will not be long until they assume the position to make more signings. However, technical secretary of the club Ramon Planes stated that Depay's purported arrival is not dependent on the sales of player.
"We are looking for players with quality and experience, because not any footballer can play for Barca," he said during Miralem Pjanic's unveiling on Tuesday.
"And among them, we are looking for a forward. His [Memphis Depay's] arrival is not contingent on the departure of players who are now in the squad. We always aspire to improve the squad."
