Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Memphis Depay to the Premier League this summer.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Spanish publication SPORT, who claim that, following Fabio Paratici’s negotiations with Barcelona regarding a loan deal for Clement Lenglet, the Italian sporting director has now enquired about the possibility of signing the centre-forward from the LaLiga giants as they edge closer to his signature.
The report goes on to state that Xavi’s side would be willing to part with the Netherlands international for a figure in the region of €20m (£17m) this summer, with the Catalan club said to have informed the 28-year-old he is free to leave the Nou Camp ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
An “unreal” coup
Considering just how impressive Depay was for Barcelona last season, should Paratici go on to get a £17m deal over the line for the Dutchman in the coming weeks, it would almost certainly represent one of the biggest coups of the summer transfer window.
Indeed, over his 28 LaLiga appearances in 2021/22, the £34m-rated talent was in fantastic form, scoring 12 goals, registering two assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.2 shots, making 1.6 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per game.
These returns saw the £158k-per-week forward who Usher Komugisha dubbed “extraordinary” and Liam Canning labelled “unreal” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.26, ranking him not only as Xavi’s fourth-best performer in the league but also as the joint 10th-best player in the division as a whole.
Furthermore, according to FBref data, the 28-year-old also ranks in the top 1% of forwards in Europe’s big five leagues for passes attempted per 90, in addition to the top 3% for progressive carries, the top 3% for progressive passes received, the top 6% for shot-creating actions, the top 6% for progressive passes, the top 8% for dribbles completed and the top 15% for xA over the last 365 days.
As such, considering that SPORT were reporting back in March that Barcelona would be demanding a €40m (£34m) fee for Depay this summer, should Paratici be successful in his bid to tie up a £17m move for the 80-cap international, not only would the Italian be adding an extremely talented forward to Antonio Conte’s attacking arsenal, he would also be sealing an unreal piece of transfer business for Spurs.
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