Juventus nearing Memphis Depay deal; David Moyes dismisses West Ham link
Juventus believe a deal to sign Memphis Depay from Barcelona is nearing - and he may be heading to Turin on a free transfer, 90min understands.
The 28-year-old arrived at Camp Nou from Lyon on a two-year contract last year after allowing his deal with the Ligue 1 giants to expire.
Memphis scored 12 times in 28 La Liga games for Barca last season, but found his first-team opportunities marginalised following the arrivals of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres in January.
The Catalans have continued to strengthen this summer, despite having little to no money to do so, and finally registered new signings Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski on Friday after activating a fourth financial lever.
Barcelona have told Memphis that he can leave the club for a fresh start, and 90min previously revealed that Juventus were close to finalising an agreement. Personal terms are understood to have already been agreed, with the only thing holding up the deal being the specifics of his Barca departure.
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Though he'd rather not sanction such a move, 90min understands that Barca president Joan Laporta is willing to allow Memphis to leave without receiving a transfer fee, with the club desperate to trim their wage bill so they can continue to register further new signings.
As it stands, Jules Kounde is unavailable to play following his move from Sevilla, and Marcos Alonso, who is nearing a move from Chelsea, would also be unable to play unless Memphis, or Manchester United and Chelsea target Frenkie de Jong, leave to free up space on the wage bill.
A number of other sides have been linked with Memphis, including Tottenham, Newcastle, Lyon and Paris Saint Germain, while West Ham United were also linked with a surprise approach on Friday - though David Moyes said "if it is, I don’t know about it, that is for sure," when asked if the Hammers were the London-based club who had approached him.
But 90min understands that despite the uncertainty, 36-time Serie A champions Juventus remain the Dutchman's likely destination and a deal is close to being signed off.