Barcelona forward could end up joining Manchester United this month – report

Journalist Ferran Correas, while writing for SPORT, has reported that Barcelona forward Memphis Depay could end up joining Manchester United in January.

By now, it’s almost given that Xavi does not count on the Netherlands international and while he did start against Intercity in the midweek Copa del Rey encounter, his presence in the starting XI was primarily down to the fact that the manager wanted to rest his important players.

As far as the player is concerned, his initial idea was to see out his current contract which runs until June 2023 and leave as a free agent in the summer. But given the lack of minutes, he is keen on returning to Manchester United, where he played between 2015 and 2017.

Correas writes that given the situation at hand, Depay could look for a way out in the winter itself, but the transfer is more complicated than it seems.

To begin with, the attacker wants to leave with a letter of freedom, but Barcelona want to receive some fee for his sale.

The Blaugrana understand that the deal will not bring them big bucks since his contract is set to expire in the summer anyway. Manchester United’s situation, however, is something that the team from Catalonia can capitalise on.

Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, the Red Devils only have Anthony Martial to count on as a centre-forward. While they do have Marcus Rashford, the England forward usually operates on the wings.

But, at the same time, those sitting in United’s offices do not want to invest a lot in a player this month. Their initial idea is to get a player on loan and for that, they are also monitoring Joao Felix’s situation as well.

It must be noted that Depay has only played four games for Barcelona this season. While injuries have played a part in that, he understands that his exclusion from matches is not a sporting decision, as it is merely a fact that the team does not want to bet on him.