Published on 11:55 AM, September 16, 2020

Lyon pour cold water on Depay to Barca transfer speculation

Lyon's Dutch forward Memphis Depay (L) trying to run past Bayern Munich's German defender Jerome Boateng during the UEFA Champions League semi-final match between Lyon and Bayern Munich. Photo: AFP
Reuters

Olympique Lyonnais on Tuesday poured cold water on reports that their Dutch international forward Memphis Depay is on the brink of a 30-million euro ($35.54 million) move to Barcelona.

Dutch media reported on Tuesday that the Catalan club, where former Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman recently took over, were on the brink of signing the 26-year-old striker.

Yet Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas said the Spanish giants had told him Depay was too expensive for them.

"The president of Barça (Josep Maria Bartomeu) told me on Sunday that Barça was suffering a lot from the COVID-19 crisis and have no possibility of making an offer," Aulas tweeted on Tuesday (@JM_Aulas).

Depay is under contract at Lyon until next year, having joined them from Manchester United three years ago.

He helped the French club to the semi-final of the Champions League last month and scored a hat-trick as Lyon kicked off the new Ligue 1 campaign with a 4-1 home win over Dijon on Aug. 28.

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