Tottenham Hotspur have ‘officially taken the step’ to sign Barcelona’s Memphis Depay in the ‘last few hours’, according to Sport.
The forward’s contract expires in 2023 and he has been made available on the transfer market.
Barca secured Ousmane Dembélé’s future by offering him an extension until 2024. Their attacking division will be further bolstered by the additions of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.
These developments have seen the La Liga side decide to cut ties with the 28-year-old. His agents knew about the club’s decision over a week ago and now they have an offer on the table from Tottenham.
Sport state Barcelona had then frozen the Netherlands international’s exit, but gave the Premier League side permission to negotiate with Depay. They have already contacted his camp.
Tottenham are not ready to pay the €20m fee demanded by Xavi Hernández’s side, but are ‘willing to pay’ €17m for the Dutchman. He is comfortable at the club and his priority has been to continue at the Camp Nou. The attacker is reluctant to return to England.
Xavi was counting on Depay, but will no longer be able to do so after the developments that took place this month. It is clear the former Lyon man will struggle for game time at Barcelona.
It needs to be seen whether Depay will change his mind to move to the Premier League after Tottenham took steps to sign him in recent hours.
