Sigh. The Memphis Depay saga is here to stay for a long while, isn’t it?
The 21 year-old has been linked with a move away from PSV in the recent days with PSG and Liverpool the confirmed leading clubs. Manchester United are also in the running for the player but PSV sporting director Marcel Brands admitted that the Manchester side had only made an enquiry and are yet to follow up on their interest.
Now, Liverpool ECHO have reported that Brendan Rodgers’s side are indeed leading the race for the player and feel comfortable about securing the services of the player, ahead of their league rivals. United have been said to be the team believed to be holding two trump cards in their pursuit of the player – Depay’s relationship with boss Louis van Gaal, who got him to the World Cup last season, and the fact that the 20 time league champions in all probability will be in the Champions League next season, where the Reds are unlikely to see themselves.
However, James Pearce of the ECHO reports that the player is keen on a move to Liverpool and has put playing time ahead of anything else (the player has also been reported to be impressed with FSG’s vision of the club and their ambition in chasing the player). Pearce writes:
Hope has grown over the past week that Depay will opt to move to Anfield instead. Sources close to the player have confirmed that he has his heart set on a transfer to the Premier League and that he was impressed with Liverpoola s plans to push on after a disappointing campaign. Playing in the Champions League is not a deal breaker for Depay, who instead is more interested in finding a club where he will command a regular first-team spot and be able to further develop his talent.
It is also believed that Depay is keeping in mind the path Luis Suarez followed in 2011, after his move from Ajax, and how his game went to another level with the Anfield outfit, and is intent on “following a similar career path”
Depay is likely to cost a sum in the region of A?20 million and will be a wonderful investment for the Reds. The Dutch starlet is a genuine goal scoring threat, as has been illustrated by the 21 league goals he has got this season, something Liverpool have seriously lacked recently. He is also young, with a lot of room for development, can be played anywhere in the attack (the kind of versatility Rodgers prefers) and fits the FSG model completely. A transfer that looked extremely unlikely in the beginning looks like it could materialize this summer. We’ll have to wait and see. Rest assured, this isn’t the end of the reports surrounding Depay’s future.