He Barça will sign a forward in the next few days and, at this time, the closest is called Memphis Depay, 26 years. The Dutchman has been waiting a couple of weeks for the situation of Luis Suárez to be clarified to try to dissociate himself from his current club, Oympique de Lyon, with whom he has a contract until June 2021. La French entity, aware that the the next year will be free, could access your sale to get money that he will not have next year if the international orange comes free. The operation I was pending that him Barça enter money of transfers and lower your salary limit. The first has been achieved with the sale of Semedo (30 million and ten in variables). The second, with the marches of Suarez, Rakitic and Arturo vidal.
Depay, that was not in the initial lists of Abidal and Planes, has been a Koeman's improvisation. Barça's dream was (it still is, although it is difficult) to sign Lautaro Martinez, Inter forward who to end of year 2019 I was so well on my way that everyone they took for granted his signing in June for an amount less than 111 million which set its termination clause, which could be executed between July 1 and 15. The pandemic, However, he sent the operation to hell because the Barça ran out of income and, in principle, it cannot face a transfer that could have an annual amortization of more than 20 million euros. Even so, Barça will try until the end and will leave open the Depay option.
Koeman, aware of the two operations, He's prepared for anything. If Depay arrives, his idea is that the team work in attack as in the three preseason friendlies, with mobility and rotation of the four attacking players (Messi, Ansu, Coutinho and Griezmann start as headlines). Depay would enter that group of players with goal but that can also overturn to the band without missing the position. If you arrive in Lautaro, the physiognomy of the team would be more similar to that of recent years. A reference striker. Not as much as Suarez, but capable of fix and drag centers, to open space for the midfielder line and break into space to take advantage of their balls.
But beyond the names, the novelty is that Barça take the rest for sign a new striker and Bartomeu, for pleasing Koeman and the fans and trying that, with the latest signings (Dest, Pjanic, Trincao, Pedri), the team regain a certain hierarchy and try to lift a title again.