Compared with the busy summer transfer market, the winter transfer market is very withered, there are not a few big transfers, and the transfer of Depay surprised me, he was transferred from Barcelona to Atletico for 3 million euros, the transfer fee is a little ridiculous, after all, Depay’s price is still 20 million euros, in this era of premium, the transfer fee is so much lower than the price. That’s rare.
However, on July 1, 2021, Barca acquired Depay from Lyon on a free transfer without paying a penny, so when you think about it, Barca used Depay for a year and a half and made a 3 million euro transfer fee, which is a small fortune.
Depay, born on February 13, 1994 in Modrecht, the Netherlands, 1.78 meters tall, weighs 78kg, the field manager as a striker. In the history of the Dutch team, there are many talented strikers, such as Cruyff, Van Basten, Bergkamp, Kluivert, Van Nistelrooy, van Persie, Arjen Robben and so on.ITA 01.
But after the 2014 World Cup, Dutch football seems to have reached a low point in its history. They missed Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in a row, and to add to the embarrassment, the Netherlands can’t get its once-proud striker out. After the 2014 World Cup, Holland’s biggest striker was Depay.
Depay made his professional debut at the age of 17 for PSV Eindhoven against Nordwickhout in the eighth round of the Dutch Cup on 11 September 2011. In the summer of 2015, when Louis van Gaal was manager of Manchester United, he paid 34 million euros to recruit Depay from his hometown.
Depay scored seven goals in 46 appearances for United in all competitions during the 2015-16 season, but was dismissed by manager Louis van Gaal at the end of the season following a poor run of results. In 2016-17, Depay played 134 minutes in eight substitute appearances in all competitions and 20 minutes in the Premier League, with no goals or assists.
On 20 January 2017, Depay moved to Ligue 1 side Lyon for a fee of 16 million pounds and will play for the club until the end of his contract in June 2021. At Lyon, Depay was so good. He became a Ligue 1 superstar that he was courted by a rebuilding Barca team, where he struggled again.
Depay, once a prodigy, is now being sold off by teams. What did he do wrong? Let’s take a look at Depay’s ability value. The overall score is 85 points, including dribbling 86 points, shooting 84 points, speed 83 points, passing 82 points, power 79 points. His advantage is that dribbling and shooting ability is very strong, but poor against, especially in the air, is quite bad.
Depay’s ability is not bad, but he is not fit to play for a big club. Manchester United and now Barcelona are not really big clubs, but Depay is a mess. He is better suited to a weaker club like Lyon and a weaker league like Ligue 1.
Van Persie and Arjen Robben could have played regular football at any club. At 29 years old, Depay will have to look for other strikers to help them reach the 2024 European Championship and 2026 World Cup.