Manchester United are weighing up a move to re-sign their former forward Memphis Depay from Barcelona in the closing days of the summer transfer window.
United initially signed the Dutch forward from PSV Eindhoven for a transfer fee of £25million by his fellow countryman Louis van Gaal in 2015, but his Old Trafford career never got going and he was replaced by Jose Mourinho in January 2017 – moving to Lyon.
Memphis joined Barca last summer as a free agent but the signings of Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raphinha this year have pushed him down the pecking order at Camp Nou, while his proposed move to Juventus earlier this month collapsed.
That has increased the pressure on the Catalan club to shift the 28-year-old from their wage bill over the coming days in order for them to register new signing Jules Kounde alongside any further incomings at Barca before the close of play in the transfer window.
As advanced by the Manchester Evening News, Memphis is an option for United. The club value his attacking versatility while he is familiar with Erik ten Hag, who was the assistant coach at PSV when the forward played for the Eindhoven club.
He is out of contract at Barca next summer and the club are willing to sanction his exit for a minimal fee this summer with United now interested in a potential switch, despite their previous stance of having no interest in re-signing the forward – signalling the latest U-turn from their transfer gurus.
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Memphis bagged 13 goals for Barcelona last season but he found the net just seven times in 53 appearances for United, who believe their reputation was damaged by the deal to sign the talented, but raw, forward seven years ago. Ajax forward Antony remains United’s key transfer objective, while PSV’s Cody Gakpo has also been linked.
According to former Arsenal icon Robert Pires, Depay still has some "unfinished business" to attend to at Old Trafford. Speaking to Bwin in 2019, the two-time Premier League winner contemplated the idea of a second spell at United for the then-Lyon man.
"I think Depay wants to come back to the Premier League and he feels he has unfinished business in England," Pires claimed. "It didn't work out for him at Manchester United and Depay is a very proud player. He perhaps feels he wasn't given a chance to perform and earn the right to stay longer considering he was so young and showed glimpses of undoubted potential. Depay might want to return to Manchester United or he might be motivated to prove them wrong by performing for one of their rivals in the Premier League."
