Barcelona boss Xavi has confirmed the reason why Memphis Depay joined Atletico Madrid.
The Dutch international completed a move to Diego Simeone’s side yesterday after the two clubs agreed a €3m deal, with €1m in extras.
Depay has signed a two and a half year deal in the Spanish capital, until the end of the 2024/25 campaign, and made his Los Rojiblancos debut today, in their 3-0 win at Real Valladolid.
The move was completely quickly, with Depay confirming Simeone’s determination to bring him to the club played a crucial role in helping him to decide.
Nuestro nuevo 𝟵 ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/Z1jxKLXcD8
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) January 20, 2023
Barcelona were keen to offload the former Lyon forward, as part of a drive to reduce their wage bill in 2023, with Xavi revealing Depay asked him personally to sanction an exit from Catalonia.
“Memphis asked to leave after he received Atletico’s proposal,” as per reports from Marca.
“He asked me to leave, he wasn’t comfortable, he wanted to be comfortable again.
“We all came out of the situation as winners.
“If we can strengthen ourselves, that would be great. If not, it’s not urgent. We’ll see if we can sign someone, but we must remember Financial Fair Play rules.”
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