Reports: Memphis Depay close to finalizing Barcelona exit

The biggest issue with trying to sign a player who is negotiating some sort of buyout with another club is that you’re essentially at the mercy of said transaction taking place. That is very much the case with Juventus’ pursuit of Memphis Depay, who is very much one of the top remaining transfer targets for the Bianconeri but can only do so much until his current deal with Barcelona is terminated.

It looks like one of those things is close to happening.

According to Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio and Fabrizio Romano, Depay is closing in on finally terminating his contract with Barcelona, something that has seemingly gone on for a couple of weeks now without all that much serious progress since he was deemed out of Xavi’s plans. And once Depay does secure his Camp Nou exit, it is then when Juventus will try to finalize an agreement with the Dutchman, according to reports, with the Italians offering up a two-year contract.

The termination of the contract with Barcelona will, according to both Di Marzio and Romano, potentially be the breakthrough that Juve has been hoping for. Di Marzio does note that the salary demands from Depay’s camp have increased, with Juve first reportedly offering a salary in the neighborhood of €6 million net.

No matter if the salary demands have gone up or not, Di Marzio makes it a clear: Juventus has every desire to close a deal with Depay and bring him into a forward line that is still very much dealing with a lack of depth right now.

Just when they will have the chance do so remains to be seen since Depay’s exit from Barcelona has been talked about for weeks now but still hasn’t happened yet.

Ever since Depay’s expected exit from Barcelona became a formality of taking place, Juventus has been considered the favorite to be his next landing spot. There has, surprisingly, not been many other clubs in which he has been linked to despite the somewhat dragged out process the termination negotiations have become. Some corners of the Italian press have suggested that Juve have grown a little annoyed with how long it has taken Depay to finalize his Barcelona exit, but the fact that there aren’t any real alternative destinations being thrown out there is a pretty good sign for things getting done.

It just seems like once the first domino falls then the second one isn’t too far behind. As much as Juve probably want to get something done with Depay before he actually officially leaves Barcelona, there seems to be only so much they can do right now while he still is technically a Barcelona player.