EXCLUSIVE
Alexandre Lacazette has praised Lyon team-mate Memphis Depay’s “power and technique” but is not willing to say the Dutchman will be a star in Ligue 1 yet.
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After OL’s 4-1 win over AZ in the Europa League on Thursday, during which he scored twice, Lacazette discussed the former Manchester United winger, who signed with the Parc OL side in January but did not feature in the game due to being cup tied.
Memphis’ form since making a £16 million move to OL in January has been mixed, with the 23-year-old notably criticised after a 2-0 derby loss to Saint-Etienne, although he bounced back by scoring his first goal for the club with a fine strike against Nancy a week later.
His offensive colleague, though, is willing to wait before passing judgement.
“I think that Memphis is a good player, but we’ll have to wait and see what he can bring to the team before the end of the season,” the striker told Goal.
“He has strength, is a technical player and has a good deal of experience because he plays for the Netherlands team and he played at Manchester United. He’ll bring us all that.”
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Lacazette admitted that he did not know too much about AZ, with the exception of goalkeeper Tim Krul, who he twice rounded to score his goals.
“Did I know many AZ players? Just the keeper, that’s all,” he admitted.
Even without Memphis, Lyon will be aiming to make good progress in the Europa League as it represents perhaps their best chance of Champions League football next season, given they trail third placed Nice by 13 points domestically.
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