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Memphis Depay leaves for Atlético de Madrid and can help ‘regularize’ Gavi

BarcelonaMemphis Depay is a foot and a half away from Barça. The need for Atlético de Madrid, who have lost two strikers (Joao Félix and Matheus Cunha) in this winter market, has accelerated the departure of an attacker who has been away from Camp Nou for months. The Dutchman wanted to stay in La Liga and has managed to get the Matalassa club to pay around three million euros in transfer money for his services, even though his contract as a Barcelona player ends in six months from now, on June 30, 2023.

The news broke this afternoon when the footballer did not show up for training ahead of this Thursday’s Copa del Rey match against Ceuta. The absence caught Xavi Hernández off guard, who announced at the press conference that he would speak to discuss his future. Minutes later, already on the grass, the technician did not see him appear. No member of thestaff he was aware that the operation to send Memphis to the Cívitas Metropolitano was hot up to this point and that the ram Orange he had permission not to appear at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. “They are polishing the fringes of the transfer”, said minutes later the official version of the events in a Barcelona key.

Memphis leaving in the middle of the season is a relative headache for Xavi. Although the coach counted on him especially in this part of the year with Lewandowski and Ferran Torres suspended (the League matches against Getafe and Girona are missed), losing sight of him is not serious if we look at his poor statistics of participation: He has only played four official matches this season.

The most interesting data of the move is in accounting terms, because it will leave a transfer of at least three million euros which, added to the salary that the club will stop paying the striker until the end of the year, can finally allow Pablo to be regularized Gavi, an essential piece of the first team that still competes, in the eyes of the League, with a youth card and number. Sources from the entity acknowledge to the ARA that at the moment they are working with the employer so that the savings generated with Memphis represent the final point of the anomaly with the Andalusian, who will be able to wear the number 6 that Riqui left free I will go up in the summer once the situation is resolved. With Araujo, in principle, we will have to keep waiting.

Carrasco will remain, for the time being, at Atlético de Madrid

Depay will be put under the orders of Cholo Simeone in the short term to assist in Atlético Madrid’s qualification for the Champions League. It is the main objective of the mattress club, which from the first moment expressed itself against an exchange operation with another of its forwards: Yannick Carrasco. Finally, since Barça did not want to let Memphis go without receiving anything in return beyond saving the fee, the negotiations between the parties have turned towards this low-cost transfer. Relationships between clubs are common in recent times and, in the current context, they are in fantastic harmony thanks to the friendly relationship that exists between Barça’s director of football, Mateu Alemany, and the CEO and main shareholder of the Atlético, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín. By virtue of this link, before the World Cup, the Griezmann case was finalized with a transfer valued at 25 million.

Memphis, therefore, will put an end to a journey at Barça that began in the summer of 2021, in the midst of Blaugrana depression due to the traumatic departure of Leo Messi. Although he arrived on a free from Olympique de Lyon, the Dutchman was the star signing of the first market with Laporta in the club’s presidency. He was endorsed by Ronald Koeman, who knew him well from the national team and asked for his signing. When the coach was sacked due to poor results and Xavi landed to replace him, Memphis was injured due to exhaustion. Once recovered, the organization had already hired Aubameyang and Ferran Torres, two players who took the label of untouchable. All in all, the striker finished the first season at Camp Nou with 13 goals.

In the second campaign, the signings of Raphinha and Lewandowski placed him on the exit ramp until the last day of the summer transfer window, when he announced he would stay at the club after failing to reach a agreement to go to Juventus. But between the lack of participation and the muscle injury he suffered during the first national team stoppage, the footballer prioritized the World Cup and made a fool of himself with the recovery, which generated some discomfort in the dressing room. As a result of this scenario, and seeing that he would play little, Xavi has given the green light to his departure in the winter market, even if it is not clear if he will be able to have another striker in exchange. Right now, the list of attackers in the squad amounts to five: Lewandowski, Dembélé, Raphinha, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.

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