Memphis Depay: I will be at Barcelona for several years

Memphis Depay has shut down rumours of an early exit from Barcelona by stating his intention to remain at the club.

Memphis Depay joined Barcelona, one of many clubs who were interested in him at the time, on a free transfer after a successful four years (on a personal level) at French club Olympique Lyonnais where he was captain for two of those four years.

He has been Barcelona’s best attacker this season in terms of output, scoring 12 goals and providing two assists in 34 total appearances for the club. He has only been limited to 34 appearances, however, following the sacking of Ronald Koeman and the employment of Xavi Hernandez. Injuries have also kept him from the squad, reducing his game time.

Xavi, however, does not seem to favour the Dutchman so much, using him mostly as a substitute and starting him in the ‘unimportant’ or ‘lesser’ games. This has led to speculations of his exit at the end of the season, despite him having a contract which ends in 2023.

The speculations have also been buttressed by a report from the club which claims that president Joan Laporta has put all but seven players on the market this season, and will listen to any good offers.

Memphis, however, has a different idea, saying that he wants to stay at Barcelona for several years. “I came here at Barcelona with the desire to play for the team – and of course I want to feel important here for several years,” he said.

According to reports, the Dutch forward has been been ‘approached’ by a few unnamed Premier League clubs in the past few weeks. But it is understood that those approaches have yielded nothing in terms of a transfer, despite the club being open to negotiate for him.

Arsenal are rumoured to be one of the clubs who approached him as they search for a replacement for the departing Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette.

Meanwhile, one of the more muted transfer links to Barcelona is between the Catalan club and Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves.

Reports claim that Xavi is an admirer of the player and has inquired about him, although it has not been stayed if it is for a transfer, a loan, or just for a scouting report.

Wolves have now decided to slap a price tag of €120 million on the midfielder, who is also wanted by a host of other top clubs especially in the Premier League.

Neves is also reported to be interested in moving to Barcelona. His agent, Jorge Mendes, has a good relationship with Laporta which means the deal, if the reports of Barcelona’s interest are true, could be seamless for the Catalans.