If there were doubts – and there were – about Barcelona’s decision to sign Memphis Depay, they have been quickly dispelled at Euro 2020.
With two goals and two assists in three group games, Depay has been the creative leader of a Netherlands side with a 100 per cent record – far better than they were expected to be before the tournament.
Coach Frank de Boer had supporters and even players turning against him over his choice to play with a 3-4-1-2 system, instead of the trusted 4-3-3 that his predecessor Ronald Koeman operated, but the players have pulled the team through.
They face the Czech Republic in the last 16 on Sunday and, with Wales or Denmark lying in store after that, could easily go on to reach the semi-finals.
With each passing game, Barcelona are increasingly convinced by their hire. Arriving at zero cost, at the end of his contract with French side Olympique Lyon, he was a ripe opportunity on the market financially.
Questions remained, in a sporting sense, despite 20 goals and 12 assists in 37 Ligue 1 games and only time will tell if he can propel Barcelona’s attack to a level capable of winning the Champions League.
However, on paper, the Messi, Depay, Sergio Aguero front line has the potential to be Barcelona’s best since Neymar and Luis Suarez lined up alongside the Argentine.
Depay is a seismic upgrade on injury-prone Ousmane Dembele and on Martin Braithwaite. Antoine Griezmann cannot carry the ball and, therefore, struggles to remove pressure from Messi’s shoulders, but Memphis adores that role.
If anything, he can get in trouble for wanting to be too creative, with his critics in his homeland sharpening their knives despite the 2-0 win over Austria in their second group game.
Depay slotted home from the penalty spot and was the Netherlands creative fulcrum, but drew some ire.
Getty/Goal“Sometimes, you have to play it simple, don’t always look for the most complicated or aesthetically pleasing solution,” said Wim Kieft, a former Dutch striker who won the Euros in 1988 with his national team.
“That’s why Depay loses the ball so much, for his ambition to always play to the limit... He has to learn to make better decisions.”
At Barcelona, losing the ball unnecessarily is anathema to their entire footballing philosophy, as Dembele found in his early years, with the Frenchman’s decision-making heavily criticised.
However, Depay’s ambition at Barcelona is to be more like Neymar, a hybrid winger-striker, operating off the left flank but with some freedom to roam.
If he can deliver, Depay will become exactly the kind of figure Barcelona need to allow Messi, 34, room to breathe.
Since Neymar left for PSG in 2017, defences have been entirely focused on stopping him and while it hasn’t prevented him finishing as the league’s leading goalscorer in each of the subsequent four seasons, it has left Barca more dependent than ever on him.
Messi has not yet put pen to paper on a new deal but all indications are that he will sign on at Barcelona and, in Depay, he will find a dynamic foil. Whether they click off the pitch is a different question. Messi’s great friendship with Neymar and Suarez was a vital component in that attack’s viability.
The forward is already close friends with his compatriot Aguero, a key reason for his arrival from Manchester City.
Depay tends to be a closed figure, untrusting, as a result of a difficult childhood.
“At school he also had a hard time. He was a different kid, and pretty soon he was tagged as a bad boy. Parents did not want their children to play with Memphis. They never invited him to a birthday party,” Depay’s mother told newspaper AD.
Getty/GoalThe two-year length of the deal with Barcelona adds an element of uncertainty to the move. "We did that with the lawyers and with Barca, we were both happy with that," Depay told NOS.
It means Barcelona cannot exploit Depay; the club’s financial situation is bad and signing him for a year only to sell him on next summer for a big fee would have been a possibility if he had penned a longer contract.
There is also the issue of Koeman’s future on Barcelona’s bench. Joan Laporta tried to replace the Dutchman this summer but could not find a replacement and eventually decided to keep him. A string of bad results could see Laporta change his mind again, while Koeman only has a year left on his deal.
Depay’s arrival was a request from the former national team coach dating back to last summer, and Koeman pushed for him again in the winter window, finally getting what he wanted. Having managed him with the Netherlands, he trusts Depay is capable of playing at this level.
In recent years the forward has matured and now seems capable of dealing with the pressure of a top club like Barcelona, having been swallowed whole at Old Trafford, during his stint with Manchester United between 2015 and 2017.
So far, this has been Memphis’s summer, from being one of the stars of Euro 2020 to sealing his long-awaited Barcelona switch. Barcelona are quietly confident it will be his autumn, his winter and his spring, too.