Barcelona reach agreements to sign Sergio Aguero & Memphis Depay
By Tom Gott
Barcelona are closing in on the signings of both Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay after reaching agreements with both impending free agents.
President Joan Laporta is keen to lead a squad rebuild this summer and hopes to find more firepower in attack, where Ronald Koeman recently confessed his side would struggle without Lionel Messi.
Sergio Agüero to Barcelona, here we go! He’s set to join until June 2023, agreement reached. Bonus included in case Barça will win the UCL. ?? #FCB
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 21, 2021
More: Barcelona are also getting closer to sign Memphis Depay. He confirmed to his new lawyers that he wants to join Barça ???
Talks have been on-going with both Aguero and Depay for a while now, and it always seemed like it was going to be one or the other, but according to a combination of Fabrizio Romano and Matteo Moretto, it's both.
Beginning with Aguero, the Manchester City man is understood to have inked a two-year contract with Barcelona, with that deal also including a hefty bonus if he can fire La Blaugrana back to Champions League glory.
He is now expected to join up with Depay, who has confirmed his desire to swap Lyon for Barcelona and has reached his own agreement ahead of a switch to Camp Nou.
Of the pair, it's Depay's signing which comes as a little more of a surprise. It was thought that Koeman was the only person really pushing for Depay's signing, and with countless reports suggesting the axe is slowly falling on the manager's head, it seemed like any deal for the Lyon man would be put on hold.
While it's easy to suggest an agreement with Depay means Koeman is staying, it's probably advisable not to get too ahead of yourself just yet.
Koeman himself recently confessed he has no idea if he will still be at Camp Nou next year, with earlier reports claiming his only chance of staying is if a suitable replacement can't be found, so that's more of a question of just how desperate Laporta is to change manager.
It's not as if Depay isn't worthy of a move to Barcelona. With 20 goals and ten assists in 36 appearances, he has been one of Ligue 1's standout players and finally looks like the man who was supposed to replace Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United all those years ago.
Barcelona might not even be finished bolstering their attack. Laporta has made no secret of his desire to sign Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, but with the Norwegian set to cost close to €150m, getting Aguero and Depay on frees seems like a solid alternative.