Memphis Depay has not made himself popular with the Barcelona club management, it is reported Mark. According to the Spanish sports newspaper, the Catalans want to sell the Dutchman in order to earn something from his contract that runs until mid-2023. However, Memphis himself would like to leave transfer-free in the summer, in order to collect a substantial signing bonus at his new club. Barcelona is having a hard time with the matter and is even considering adding money to speed up his departure.
Barcelona would not have received many offers for Memphis, as the attacker tells interested clubs that he does not intend to leave before the summer. According to Mark is the reason that Memphis does this to be able to collect such a substantial signing bonus from his new employer. The attacker should already be allowed to talk to new clubs during the winter transfer market. Memphis has instructed those clubs to reconnect in a few weeks, when the transfer window opens. The Barcelona board wants to sell the 28-year-old international, because his departure would allow the contract extension of other players.
The board would even be willing to contribute money itself to sell Memphis this winter. Even if Memphis actually finishes the season at Barcelona, it does not seem that he will have to count on much playing time. With Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembélé, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, trainer Xavi seems to have enough options for the flanks and in the striker. The trainer of los Azulgrana would nevertheless be satisfied with Memphis, who has not been able to make much of an impression this season. The former PSV player made only three appearances, in which he managed to score once.
In addition, Memphis sustained an upper leg injury during the Nations League match won by the the Dutch against Poland (0-2) in September. The recovery took longer than expected, which led to speculation that Memphis would deliberately stretch his recovery time in order to be fully fit for the World Cup. Memphis was a basic player from the third group match against Qatar (0-2 win), but managed to make little impression despite his nice goal against the United States (3-1 win).