Barcelona ace Memphis Depay set to join Atletico Madrid in €3 million deal

In a huge development, Toni Juanmarti is reporting that Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are on the verge of finalising the transfer of Memphis Depay in a deal worth €3 million.

This comes moments after news emerged that the Dutchman had not participated in today’s training session with the Catalans ahead of their Copa del Rey clash against AD Ceuta.

Depay was not seen at the training ground today, leading to speculations that he was trying to force through an exit from the club. The forward, after all, has emerged as a top transfer target for Atletico Madrid this winter.

It was even reported that Xavi & co. had gotten very angry with Depay’s actions and the Dutchman would be fined for skipping training without prior notice.

However, the aforementioned report clarifies that the Netherlands international missed training as he is close to completing a transfer to Atletico Madrid imminently.

As per the report, the deal will likely be worth around €3 million, much lower than the €7 million that the Catalans were demanding, while Yannick Carrasco will not be entering the operation either.

Juanmarti, however, adds that there could be some variable components in the transfer fee, that could see the total value rise a little higher than €3 million.

Furthermore, the club will not be taking any action against Depay for his absence from training either as they believe it is understandable for the player to not show up as a transfer to Atletico Madrid is very close.

Depay joined Barcelona from Lyon in the summer of 2021. While he was an important part of the setup under Ronald Koeman, the Dutchman has struggled to remain relevant under Xavi and has played just four times this term.