Memphis Depay's Barcelona career may already be over
FT Desk
- 17 Feb 2022 22:41 GMT
- 7 min read
Barcelona may have only scored one goal against Napoli in their Europa League tie on Thursday but it wasn’t through a lack of trying.
Xavi’s side made no less than 21 goal attempts over the course of the match and had five shots on target against their Italian opponents.
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That, undoubtedly, was down to the fact that Xavi had started three forwards in the form of Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traore, then brought a further two on in the second half in Ousmane Dembele and Luuk de Jong.
Indeed, it was a game full of attacking intent from Barca and while it may not have been the result the Spanish giants needed there was hardly a single cry for one player’s absence: Memphis Depay.
Depay has struggled at Barca
To say that the Netherlands international has underwhelmed since making the move to Barca from Lyon in the summer would be something of an understatement.
In 23 appearances for the club, Depay has bagged just eight goals and two assists, which equates to a goal contribution every 194 minutes of football - or in other words, once every two games.
Depay has unfortunately been out of action with an achilles tendon injury since mid January but when he does return to the squad he’ll find a lot more competition for his space in the team.
As such, it came as little surprise to see new Barca manager Xavi focus heavily on new forwards in the January window, with no less than three arriving last month. Which will surely lead to Depay moving on in the summer window.
He could leave this summer
According to Spanish outlet Sport, this summer’s transfer window has been earmarked as an ideal time for Barca to cash in on the Netherland’s international and as such the club plan on doing exactly that.
The Spanish publication suggests that Depay has struggled to fit into Xavi’s tactics, which would explain the arrival of new forwards in January and why Barca may have already decided to draw a line under the forward’s time at the club.
