Barcelona has no unilateral option to extend Memphis Depay’s contract, writes Mundo Deportivo Sunday. In the ‘Top secret’ section of the Catalan newspaper, it can be read that the club considered adding such an option to the contract during the negotiations with the attacker annex the Dutch international, but that in the end this did not happen.
The signing of Depay by Barcelona earlier this summer was not in the least a surprise, as he was already in the picture with the Catalans a year ago. However, the unusual contract duration of only two seasons caused surprise: until June 30, 2023. The media in Spain assumed that Barcelona had a unilateral option to extend the contractual cooperation with the Dutchman for another season, but that is according to Mundo Deportivo not so.
It is unclear whether Barcelona ultimately chose not to add this option, for example because Depay wanted a higher salary with such a construction. Or perhaps the ex-player of PSV, Manchester United and Olympique Lyon consciously only wanted to sign for two seasons from his strong negotiating position. It means that Barcelona will have to sit down with Depay next year if they want to prevent him from leaving on a free transfer in the summer of 2023.
After six official matches, Depay’s counter at Barcelona has reached two hits: an equalizer against Athletic Club (1-1) and the winning goal against Getafe (2-1). He has failed to score in the past three games, while Barcelona have only scored a goal in this series. That is also the lack of the Catalans this season: only five different goalscorers and only eight goals in six games. Half of it fell in the season overture against Real Sociedad (4-2).
Related
More sports news