Memphis Depay Will Attempt to Force Through January Barcelona Move

Lyon skipper Memphis Depay is desperate to join Barcelona and will attempt to force through a move in the January transfer window.

The Dutchman emerged as a priority transfer target for the Catalans in the summer following the arrival of Ronald Koeman as manager and departure of Luis Suarez.

Depay had agreed to reunite with former Netherlands boss Koeman in Catalonia, but the move broke down at the 11th hour with Barcelona unable to fund a switch after failing to get the likes of Ousmane Dembele off of their books.

A transfer at some point, however, appears inevitable and although Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has said his captain will not be sold before the expiration of his contract next summer, Mundo Deportivo report that Depay is keen to join La Blaugrana in the winter and will essentially do anything he can to force through a move.

That includes taking a rather tame salary in his first season amid Barcelona's financial woes and convincing Aulas to allow him to depart.

It's understood that the Lyon president will demand a large chunk of the €30m they requested in the summer for the Dutchman, which is likely to put Barça off the switch even if Ansu Fati's lengthy injury lay-off now means they may look to bolster their attacking options in January.

Despite making his desires clear, Depay answered rather diplomatically when asked about Barcelona following the Netherlands' 1-1 draw with Spain on Wednesday night, saying: “Who wouldn't want to play there? It is one of the best teams in the world. Everyone would like to, but I'm not thinking about that.

“About Barca, I don't know. The transfer market is not open. I have no head on that. I'm trying to do my best, to do good performances to become a better player. There is a lot of speculation about it."