Depay told to 'talk less and give more' as Lyon president slams those eyeing moves elsewhere

Memphis Depay and those attracting interest at Lyon have been slammed by the club’s president Jean-Michel Aulas, with underperforming stars told to “talk less and give much more”.

The Ligue 1 outfit boast an enviable assortment of exciting talent on their books.

Many of those are being linked with big-money moves elsewhere, with some openly admitting to harbouring ambitions of heading for pastures new at some stage.

Lyon have proved in the past that they will not stand in the way of any player that proves themselves deserving of a grander stage.

They do, however, expect full commitment from all of those at their disposal while tied to the club.

Aulas believes standards have dipped among some of late, with a 2-0 defeat to Monaco on Sunday highlighting as much.

Dutch forward Depay endured a testing time in that fixture, with his penalty miss contributing to a forgettable result for Lyon.

He has now failed with his last two spot kicks in Ligue 1 and is not delivering the talismanic displays expected of him.

Aulas has made it clear that more has to be offered to the collective cause, by Depay and many of those around him.

The Lyon supremo took to Twitter after the reversal against Monaco to say: “This match shows us all the way to go to achieve all our goals.

“Some players are far below their potential.

“Those who think they can make big transfers at the end of the year are wrong, they must talk less and give much more.”

While not mentioning Depay by name, it is clear that the Netherlands international is among those to have irked Aulas.

The 25-year-old former Manchester United forward recently revealed that he is hoping to step up the European ladder in the near future.

He told Helden in January: “Lyon is a big club, but not one of the five best in Europe.

“I want to go to a club like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich.

“I want to go to a city that suits me and a club that suits me, to a team that really wants to play football.”

Depay may get his move at some point, but he is going to have to earn it and prove to Aulas that he has not taken his eye off the ball in France.