Barcelona’s summer shake-up is set to continue this week with the signing of Memphis Depay and the departures of several squad players, sources have told ESPN.
Depay, 27, is out of contract with French side Lyon at the end of June and has been a Barca target since Ronald Koeman was appointed last August.
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Sources told ESPN on Tuesday that Barca are putting the finishing touches on a deal to make the former Manchester United forward the club’s fourth signing of the summer.
The Catalan side have already brought in duo Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia from Manchester City on free transfers.
They also paid €9 million to exercise a clause to recall right-back Emerson back from Real Betis.
Depay first agreed on personal terms with Barca last summer and a fee of around €25m was set with Lyon, but the club were unable to accommodate him within their La Liga imposed wage cap.
With no president in charge in January, Barca were unable to revisit a move for the Netherlands international, despite Koeman’s desire to add him to their squad.
A move for Depay this summer was dependent on Koeman remaining in charge. After Koeman was finally backed by Laporta earlier this month, Barca have been able to press ahead with negotiations with the player’s camp.
Depay is on international duty with Netherlands at Euro 2020 and was involved in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Ukraine in Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, Barca are hopeful of moving on several players as they look to make room in their squad and on the wage bill for their new signings.
ESPN revealed on Monday that United States winger Konrad de la Fuente is set to join French side Marseille, while defender Jean-Clair Todibo will make his loan to Nice permanent.
Barca hope to receive around €5m for De la Fuente, while also retaining a percentage of any future sale, while Todibo will move to Nice for €8.5m plus add-ons.
Left-back Junior Firpo is also in talks about a transfer away from Camp Nou, with clubs in England and Italy interested, and Barca are open to offers for several other squad players.
Neto, Samuel Umtiti, Philippe Coutinho and Martin Braithwaite are among the players the club are hoping will find new homes this summer.
