MEMPHIS DEPAY HAS left the door open for a future move to Manchester City or Chelsea, with the former Manchester United winger eager to leave Lyon at some stage for “one of the best in Europe”.
The Netherlands international was handed a Premier League opportunity when taken to Old Trafford for £25 million in the summer of 2015. He struggled to make his mark in England, though, and was offloaded to Lyon for £16m in January 2017.
Depay has rediscovered his spark in France, contributing an impressive number of goals and assists, and is starting to register on the transfer radar of leading sides once more.
The 24-year-old is determined to earn another high-profile switch at some point, with the Dutch attacker telling Helden: “Lyon is a big club, but not one of the five best in Europe. I want to go to a club like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich.
I want to go to a city that suits me and a club that suits me, to a team that really wants to play football.”
Depay added on the possibility of securing a move to the Santiago Bernabeu: “I always talk about Real Madrid, a royal club, white shirts with gold. But I’m focused right now on Lyon, and then we’ll see where I end up.”
Depay managed just 53 appearances across his 18 months at United. He mustered only seven goals in those outings and was allowed to move on as others were favoured by Jose Mourinho.
The door was left open for a return to Old Trafford, with Depay having hit the ground running in France. He found the target 22 times across all competitions last season and has another six to his name this term, along with 12 assists.
It would appear as though a second stint with the Red Devils does not appeal to the highly-rated wide-man at this stage, with his sights set on future moves to other destinations.
Join us to preview the Six Nations with Simon Zebo, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey on Thursday @7pm in Liberty Hall Theatre Dublin.
Would it have killed him to admit Real should be there too? The biggest club competition on the planet and they’ve won 4 of the last 5 and he rates them behind Juve and Bayern who have one between them in the last decade.
@Chicken George: He won’t. Lol. For a very good reason.
@Gavin Mitchell: he’s turning into Jose
Good one pep real have been the team of the Decade very ignorant.
looks like he wants to manage Juve next.
@Ardmore02: Barca have dominated in the league. He clearly says he rates the leagues as tougher.
Real behind Juve and Bayern? Pull the other one.
His standard three year tenure will be up soon. It will be interesting to see if he stays or goes on somewhere as he has done in the past.