LYON are confident Memphis Depay will stay next season despite the Manchester United flop reportedly having agreed terms with Barcelona.
The Ligue 1 side’s president Jean-Michel Aulas believes the 27-year-old can be convinced to remain at the club despite the lure of the Catalan giants.
Lyon are desperate to hang onto Dutch star Memphis DepayCredit: AP:Associated Press
Depay will become a free agent at the end of the season and looks set to finally be reunited with his former national coach Ronald Koeman at the Nou Camp.
The Dutch star was on the verge of a £22million dream move on deadline day last summer – only for the transfer to collapse with cash-strapped Barca unable to raise the necessary funds.
And the Spanish side – who have debts approaching £1billion – again failed to poach him in January with the club unable to offload Ousmane Dembele or Martin Braithwaite to facilitate the transfer.
Lyon chief Aulas told Le Progres: “Until the end we believe that he will renew for next season.
“Right now it is not something that is possible but why not?”
“He is a great talent, world class.
“There are not many like him in the team. He brings solutions. I always wanted him to remain but our offers did not convince him.
“We helped him go to FC Barcelona but financially it was not possible.”
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The Lyon skipper is a central figure in Rudi Garcia’s side who are chasing a first league title since 2008.
Depay has bagged 13 goals and six assists in 25 Ligue 1 games to help his team sit third, three points behind surprise leaders Lille.
It is a far cry from his underwhelming return of seven goals and six assists in 18 months at Old Trafford following a £25m switch from PSV Eindhoven in 2015.
Since swapping Manchester for the South of France in 2017, Depay has recorded an impressive 68 goals and 49 assists in 164 games in all competitions.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
