Besides Lionel Messi, Memphis Depay was the most exciting transfer rumour regarding the Spanish top club FC Barcelona.

Depay will continue to play Olympique Lyon at least until the next transfer window, as the transfer could no longer be realized at the end of the summer window.

The three parties – Barça, OL and the player – had already come to an agreement, it ultimately failed, according to reports, due to La Liga’s regulations because Barça’s salary limit was too high.

The Catalans part with Jean-Clair Todibo (loaned to Benfica with an option to buy) and Rafinha (free transfer to PSG) on Deadline Day in order to reduce their salary costs.

However, due to the tight financial situation and the high salary expenses, Depay could not be obtained.

Despite Depay´s disappointment, a possible move to Barcelona is not off the table yet.

“He will do everything possible to get in a position he will be able to in January.” According to Aulas, a decision by Depay´s contract that expires in the summer is particularly important.

The player himself is now called to be part of FC Barcelona in winter.

“We’ll see how things go then.”

In this data analysis, we will look at both teams´ tactics and how Depay could fit in at Barcelona.

In the analysis, we will compare Depay´s statistics to other forwards in La Liga.

Memphis Depay Style Of Play

Depay’s multi-functional nature, both as a creator and finisher, makes him unique and allows him to play in different positions.

Last season the 26-year-old, played in three different positions: striker, a left-winger and attacking midfielder.

Adding to that, he did exceptionally well in all the positions.

In the 19 club matches he played, Depay contributed 16 goals (14 goals scored and two assisted).

Not only the stats, but Depay was central to Lyon’s attack, and his attacking intensity was second to none.

He would usually drop in between the lines to collect the ball, and with his incredible dribbling skills, he created chances from almost nothing.

And whenever he was playing on the wing, he would prefer to cut in and was not afraid to take shot with his powerful right foot.

In his heat map, it becomes clear that the Dutch spearhead prefers to play in between the midfield area and the final third.

He is not within the opponent´s box often but he rather drifts out to the left-wing.

Memphis Depay Position At Olympique Lyon

Last season under Rudi Garcia, Olympique Lyonnais played in a 3-4-1-2 system.

Depay played as a left forward in a two-man frontline or as an attacking midfielder.

But when he played as a forward, Garcia gave him the freedom to play multiple roles.

He would usually drift to the left or drop between the lines creating space for his strike partner with his exceptional movement.

In addition to that, his intense physicality allows him to contain the ball and help his teammates join the attack.

Memphis Depay Position at Barcelona

How could Depay fit into the new Barcelona system?

First of all, since Koeman has not coached at Barcelona for a long time, it might be possible that he will change his system into a 4-3-3 during the season.

That is the formation Guardiola implemented at his best time at Barcelona and it is the same formation, Koeman lined-up the Dutch national team in the last few years.

Especially with a look at Messi´s possible departure, Koeman could adapt his playing style to make Depay to his key player playing as a false 9 in the 4-3-3 system.

However, Barcelona is lined-up in a 4-2-3-1 system at the moment.

While Frenkie De Jong and Miralem Pjanic/Sergio Busquets from the double-pivot in front of the backline, 17-years old Ansu Fati (left-wing), Philippe Coutinho (central offensive midfield) and Lionel Messi (striker) are essential for Barcelona´s offensive output.

With Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembélé and Francisco Trincão, Koeman has multiple quality options for the right-wing.

Depay can play in every offensive position in this formation – regardless of a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3.

But is he a good choice for Barcelona? With Luis Suárez, they lost one of the world-best strikers – can Depay replace him already in winter?

Memphis Depay Attacking actions

By comparing Depay´s offensive actions to the attacking actions of the most dangerous offensive players in La Liga, Depay keeps up with players from rather smaller clubs like Fabián Orellana and Darwin Machís.

Players from top teams like Messi, Vinícius Júnior and Takefusa Kubo provide more attacking actions per 90 minutes.

Out of Depay’s 13.5 offensive actions per 90 minutes, seven (more than 50%) are successful.

Compared to Messi (10.7 out of 19.9 attacking actions per 90 minutes are successful), this is a very good statistic.

By increasing his attacking actions per 90 minutes, Depay could get even more dangerous in La Liga.

Memphis Depay Chance creation

Considering Depay as creative playmaker able to play as forward, his ability to create chances for his teammates should be very good.

By comparing his shots assists per 90 minutes to the shot assists from the top assistors in La Liga, we see, that he is quite on average as he keeps up with Lucas Pérez and Pedro León.

However, his offensive output by assisting teammates is not good enough yet.

Compared to the best six assistors in La Liga, Depay provides fewer assists per 90 minutes.

However, this output can change by playing with world-class players like Philippe Coutinho, Ansu Fati and Messi.

Memphis Depay Goal threat

Depay´s biggest strength is his dangerous and cold-blooded shot.

He has the ability to score a goal out of nothing.

Down below, we can see that compared to La Liga´s most dangerous forwards, Depay has a rather low xG (0.4) per 90 minutes.

Especially, Diego Costa (xG per 90 minutes: 0.5) and Messi (xG per 90 minutes: 0.63) seem to have much more goal-scoring opportunities of high quality.

However, Depay uses his opportunities more wisely.

In fact, he scores 0.7 goals per 90 minutes.

Which means he scores more than two goals in three matches on average.

Looking at his xG, he scores twice more goals than he is expected to.

Not even Costa or Messi can keep up with the Dutchman in this statistic.

Memphis Depay Compared to Luis Suárez

After the departure of Suárez, most fans demanded Depay as a replacement in summer.

In winter, the transfer could happen.

But is Depay a good choice as Suárez replacement?

Compared to the Uruguayan national team player, Depay provides more goals but fewer assists.

This is surprising as the Dutchman plays more as a playmaker whereas Suárez is an out-and-out striker.

Looking at other statistics, this classification becomes more clear: Memphis provides more successful dribbles, plays more passes into the box and is more successful in the pressing system.

On the other hand, Suárez has more ball contacts within the opponent´s box.

So, Depay is not a Suárez replacement.

However, he is a very good offensive player and in terms of chance creation, he provides even better stats than the Uruguayan.

Even in terms of scored goals, Suárez can´t keep up with Depay.

Conclusion

Depay is able to play at the highest level in world football.

At Barcelona, he could improve his statistics and that is why they should go for him.

The best choice would be to change the formation to a 4-3-3.

In this system, Depay could play as a false 9.

This position is best suited for his abilities as he can be creative but still is able to score multiple goals.