Memphis and five La Liga stars who could leave after one season
Martin Macdonald
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
- 4 min read
After a low-key transfer market in the summer of 2021, Real Madrid and Barcelona are expected to splash the cash again this time around.
Madrid have already spent €100 million on Aurelien Tchouameni, while Barcelona are closing in on Robert Lewandowski and Raphina for more than €100m combined.
But both clubs - like many others in La Liga - also need to offload players.
In this article we run through five La Liga players who could leave their clubs just a year (or less) after signing.
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Memphis Depay (Barcelona)
On paper, the signing of Memphis Depay on a free transfer was a good one. His numbers from Lyon were excellent, but again he has struggled to make the step up to a truly elite side, in a similar way to his situation at Manchester United.
At Lyon he was the undisputed main man, but he struggled with the lack of that profile at Camp Nou, while a series of injuries have impacted his time so far.
A return of 13 goals in 38 games is certainly not terrible, but the January acquisitions of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ferran and Adama Traore (now departed also) thrust him down the pecking order.
Barca will listen to offers.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona)
Due to his poor performances and overall attitude in his last days at Arsenal, nobody will have predicted the positive impact that Aubameyang would make at Barca.
He is the number one striker at the club currently and scored 13 goals in 23 games since his January move on a free transfer.
Matheus Cunha (Atletico Madrid)
The biggest spenders in La Liga last summer were Atletico Madrid, who splurged €81 million on new talent.
A good portion of that was spent on Matheus Cunha from Hertha.
What makes this a bizarre signing is that Atletico already had a number of options in the positions in which Cunha plays, while Antoine Griezmann also arrived in the summer to provide even more competition.
He made 34 appearances for Atletico this past season and no less than 26 came from the bench. This hasn't worked out, and Los Colchoneros would sell at the right price.
Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid)
Another summer signing for Atletico was Rodrigo De Paul.
One of the best midfielders in Serie A in 2020-21, the Uruguayan scored nine goals and recorded nine assists for Udinese.
His performances earned him a transfer to Atletico but it hasn't worked out for him in Spain as of yet, with just five goal contributions in 29 La Liga games.
De Paul could be set for a return to Italy just a year after leaving, but Atletico will want close to the €35 million that they paid for him.
Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal)
Not all players on our list might leave Spain due to underperformance, but rather the opposite, as Arnaut Danjuma might have earned himself a big-money move to the Premier League thanks to his exploits for Villarreal.
Following a successful spell at Bournemouth which saw Danjuma bag 24 goal contributions in 35 appearances in the Championship, he made the move to Spain last summer when the Yellow Submarine offered to pay €25m for his signature.
Though his goalscoring has went down at a higher level, his return of 16 goals and five assists in 2021/22 was still very impressive.
Danjuma has also kept some of his best performances on the grandest stage in Europe as he scored six goals in the Champions League this last season.
West Ham are in talks to sign Danjuma for a fee of just under €45m.
Read more about: La Liga, Atlético, Barcelona, Villarreal, Arnaut Danjuma, Memphis Depay, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Rodrigo de Paul
