(Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP)
Recruited by OL in January 2017, Memphis Depay could have landed in Nice. An anecdote told by the president of Nice, Jean-Pierre Rivère.
It was one of the big hits on the 2017 winter market. In January 2017, Olympique Lyonnais managed to attract Memphis Depay22 years old. Certainly a failure at Manchester United, his club at the time, the striker still represents great promise. But the Rhone supporters could never have seen the Dutchman in this jersey. Indeed, Nice was also on board.
This is what Jean-Pierre explained Riverpresident of the Aiglons, on the L’Equipe channel. “With Depay, we had a deal: two and a half years on loan. Manchester United had to cover two thirds of the salary and we had a purchase option for 8 million euros, he confided. Jean-Michel Classesalways well informed, learned from the press that we were on Depay and he said: ‘When I saw that Nice was on Depay, I said to myself that Nice has no money, so we can to do’, and OL did it.
One last match with OL against… Nice
Since then, the boss of the Riviera club has said that he avoids giving information to journalists during the transfer window. For Depay, it was the start of an adventure which lasted four and a half years, until 2021. After 178 matches and 76 goals, and when he arrived for 16 million euros, the forward- center left free for FC Barcelona, before joining Atlético de Madrid then this summer, SC Corinthians. For the record, his last match under the Lyon tunic was against… Nice (3-2 defeat).
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