Atletico Madrid have confirmed the arrival of Memphis Depay from Barcelona, who joins Los Rojiblancos on a two-and-a-half year deal.
Memphis was already spotted in Atletico training on Thursday night, with permission from Barcelona, while the transfer went through. The club confirmed the transfer on Friday afternoon, with his presentation scheduled for later that evening.
The deal is widely reported to be worth €3m to Barcelona, plus a further €1m in variables. It has also been mentioned that a deal is agreed to take Yannick Carrasco in the other direction during the summer.
The Dutch forward played 42 times for Barcelona during his 18 months at Camp Nou, scoring 14 times and giving 2 assists. Starting off well, all but one of those goal contributions came his first season, as he became a non-factor for Xavi Hernandez this campaign. So far he has played just 206 minutes of club football.
For Atletico Madrid, he should bring decisiveness and goals in the final third for an inconsistent attack. He will provide a good runner for Antoine Griezmann’s excellent range of passing and should be able to work well with Alvaro Morata. How Diego Simeone seeks to use him will ultimately determine his success though. Depay was excellent for Barcelona while the side was playing to his strengths, but quickly lost form when the Blaugrana moved towards a different idea.
