Sources from Olympique Lyon’s press department have confirmed to French news outlet, RMC Sport, that Memphis Depay and Houssem Aouar will stay with their current club.
Memphis Depay has been a hot topic in this transfer window, especially for Barcelona. With the departure of Luis Suárez, Barcelona remain keen on bringing in a striker, with Ronald Koeman admitting in his recent press conference that it ‘would be a good alternative’ to bring another forward to the squad.
Memphis Depay’s name has been mentioned heavily, with reports stating that the Dutch forward is on Barcelona’s radar and has been pushing for a move to Catalonia. Lyon’s president, Jean-Michel Aulas, has repeatedly shot down those rumors, with sources also having confirmed to Blaugranagram that there had been no talks between the clubs nor between Barcelona and his representatives at the time.
Despite multiple reports recently stating that the Catalans’ interest has intensified, Lyon’s press department has confirmed to French news outlet RMC Sport that Memphis Depay is staying alongside Houssem Aouar, with the latter having been linked with Arsenal and Juventus in the past few weeks.
Per the same report, the pair had been given an extended deadline, until Saturday at noon, to reach an agreement with their suitors; Aouar was in talks with Juventus and Memphis pushing for his Barcelona move. However, neither will materialize, if the deadline is upheld.
Interestingly enough, although the two players were given a deadline, RMC reports that Jeff Reine-Adélaide still could leave Lyon, with very few days left of the transfer market.
With regards to Lyon’s statement to RMC, it is interesting to note that Lyon, in the summer of 2019, published a press release with regards to Ferland Mendy, denying reports stating that they had reached an agreement with Real Madrid over his transfer. Only eight days later, he was announced as a new Real Madrid player.
