Barcelona to go after Depay & Wijnaldum in January, suggests Koeman

Ronald Koeman’s desire to bring in two of his compatriots at Camp Nou is no secret, and it appears he isn’t ready to give up his pursuit.

Olympique Lyon’s Memphis Depay and Liverpool’s Geogino Wijnaldum supposedly topped FC Barcelona’s wishlist during the summer transfer market.

The former came closer to a switch to Camp Nou in comparison to the latter, but neither did in the end due to some complications.

Barca were required to offload one of their own players before signing Depay so as to comply with the La Liga rules.

As for their interest in Wijnaldum, it simply made more sense from a financial standpoint to not sign him then. The midfielder, having entered the final 12 months of his Liverpool contract, will be able to open talks with other clubs from January 1 for a free transfer in the next summer.

Ronaldo Koeman, who was appointed at Barcelona with the ambition of bringing about a change following the team’s trophyless season, suggests he hasn’t dropped the idea of bringing in Depay or Wijnaldum.

Koeman told AD: “Gini has a great sense of space, he can get to the goal fantastically well from midfield, he could really add something to the team.

“We wanted Memphis because he is a great player and because he has qualities that we lacked in my opinion: especially depth in our attack.”

“[Trying to sign him in January] is certainly a possibility, yes. I will try because I would like to have him here. But I cannot estimate now what the financial situation of the club is like in January.”