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The Ronald Koeman era at Barcelona has begun, and the Dutchman is reportedly eager to sign his countryman Memphis Depay, as he aims to add more bite to the Blaugrana's attack.
RAC1 are reporting that Koeman is keen on bringing the Lyon star to the Camp Nou, with a fee of around €55m being quoted.
Memphis's Netherlands career took off under Koeman's stewardship, when the veteran head coach took over in 2018, and he hasn't looked back since. Koeman switched Memphis into a central attacking role from the wide areas, and that has proved to be an influential change in the Lyon man's career.
Memphis has 10 goals in 18 games for the Netherlands, during Koeman's tenure as the head coach.
The Lyon star is the third Dutch player to be linked to Barcelona in the few days after Koeman has been given charge. Ajax's Donny van de Beek and Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum are also said to be prime targets for Koeman as he attempts to rebuild a shaken Barcelona squad.
Koeman interested in signing Memphis Depay for Barcelona
Barcelona are said to be open to letting Luis Suarez leave the club this summer, and therefore could be in the market for another attacker.
Josep Maria Bartomeu, the Barcelona President, made it clear that neither Antoine Griezmann nor Ousmane Dembele would leave the club this summer, so Memphis would come in as a fourth attacking option.
The Dutch attacker is just coming back from a knee injury that had kept him out of action since December. He returned to action only after the restart and played around an hour in the three Champions League games that Lyon played - including the famous wins over Juventus and Manchester City.
Lyon are said to be open to the sale as well, with Mundo Deportivo reporting that the French side will sell for a fee in the region of €55m.
Barcelona are still reeling from the shock of losing 8-2 to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, a result that led to the sacking of Quique Setien and brought Koeman his dream job.
In the shake-up after the loss to Bayern, Eric Abidal was also relieved of his duties as director and Bartomeu also hinted at more structural changes at Barcelona. Gerard Pique deemed those changes necessary after the game, saying Barcelona had hit rock bottom.
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