Transfer deadline: Depay to Barcelona is back on

Memphis Depay could still join Barcelona on transfer deadline day after his club Lyon reportedly performed a U-turn on selling any of their key stars over the weekend.

At the request of manager Rudi Garcia, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas stated he would not sell off major assets heading into Monday’s deadline.

However according to El Chringuito, the club’s sporting director Juninho Pernambucano has confirmed that the deal could be back on after an agreement was struck with the former Manchester United forward and the Spanish outfit.

The report quotes the former Lyon star, saying: ‘Depay has an agreement with Barcelona. It is possible that tomorrow (Monday) he will go to Barca, but it is not certain.’

Barca boss Ronald Koeman had identified Depay as one of his main transfer targets since taking the Nou Camp hotseat during the summer.

But Barca’s financial woes on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic have seen them struggle to put together a deal for Depay who was influential in guiding Lyon to the Champions League semi-finals back in August.

The La Liga side could raise funds on deadline day with the potential sale of Ousmane Dembele to Manchester United for around £80million.

A source close to Lyon reportedly told French publication RMC Sport that Depay was still trying to force through a transfer to the Nou Camp.

But Aulas was against the idea of losing the likes of Depay now due to the difficulty in trying to find a replacement ahead of the transfer deadline tonight.

Daily Mail Online