Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele is close to sealing a move to Manchester United, which will open the door for a move for Memphis Depay.
That’s according to AS, who say that Barça would accept an offer of between €50 or €60m for the French winger as a sale would allow them to drop their wage bill significantly.
That is a price Manchester United are seemingly willing to pay, with it stated Dembele is ‘very close’ to closing his move to Old Trafford.
The newspaper does not explicitly state that a deal has been agreed or even an offer made, just that he is close to completing the move, which would suggest that all the necessary negotiations between the two clubs are at an advanced stage at least.
Should the deal go through, and Manchester United pay what Barcelona want, it will give the Spanish side the ‘financial muscle’ to complete a deal for Lyon’s Depay.
Barça have been linked with a move for the forward since Ronald Koeman’s arrival as manager but don’t have the money to complete a deal.
Tuesday’s edition of L’Equipe reported Lyon have been keen to sell Depay but haven’t yet had any firm contacts for the Dutchman.
A move to Barcelona would appeal to the player, and whilst it’s been thought Ronald Koeman is interested, nothing has gone beyond the idea stage yet.
Indeed, such is Lyon’s desire to sell the attacker; they’re ready to half his price if they need to.
Given Depay’s contract expires in June 2021, Jean-Michel Aulas’ side would be prepared to come down from €25m to €12.5m, according to what the French newspaper reported earlier today.
This would be a far more attractive option for the Catalans, although it can be certain that if Aulas knows they’ve received a big fee for Dembele, then he’ll push for the €25m again.
