Getty Ez Abde celebrates scoring for Barcelona.
Barcelona’s current raft of exciting youngsters have certainly caught the eye this season with some impressive performances at home and abroad for the Catalan giants.
Winger Ez Abde is one player who has seen regular game time after being called up to the senior squad. The 20-year-old has made 12 appearances this season and scored his first Barcelona goal in the 2-2 La Liga draw against Osasuna.
Abde’s performances have not gone unnoticed around Europe. Barcelona rejected a €15 million offer from “one of the leading teams in the Bundesliga” in the January transfer window, according to Mundo Deportivo’s Roger Torello.
Barca were keen to offload players in the winter, and waved goodbye to Philippe Coutinho, Inaki Pena, Alex Collado and Yusuf Demir, but opted to keep Abde. The club wanted to ensure they had enough wingers, in case Ousmane Dembele left, and were also grateful for the forward’s refusal to go to the Africa Cup of Nations with Morocco.
Abde was called into the squad for the tournament but opted to stay in Barcelona and help his team out instead. However, the Catalans then went on to sign Adama Traore, Ferran Torres, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January, while also keeping hold of Dembele.
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Will Abde Stay at Barcelona?
Abde was originally signed for Barcelona B in the summer from Hercules for just €2 million and has already proven a useful signing. However, it remains to be seen if he will stay at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona have some big decisions to make in the summer. Dembele looks set to leave on a free transfer, while Adama is only on loan from Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The deal does include a purchase option but if Adama fails to impress between now and the end of the season it seems unlikely Barca will try bring the winger back on a permanent basis.
Meanwhile, Abde is likely to find it extremely difficult to have minutes in the first team following the arrival of the new signings. Torello reports that Barca “will evaluate” the situation in the summer and then comes to a decision with the player.
Memphis Heading Back to Lyon?
Abde isn’t the only Barcelona forward being linked with an exit currently. Dutch international Memphis Depay could be heading out of the Camp Nou in the summer after just one season at the Camp Nou.
The 28-year-old is thinking about a return to former side Lyon after seeing Ronald Koeman leave and being told that Xavi is not couting on him, as reported by Pascal Auchet at Le Quotidien.
Memphis and his entourage have already been in touch with the Ligue 1 club to assess the possibility of a move back to France.
Lyon could be in the hunt for attacking reinforcement if Lucas Paqueta departs the club at the end of the season. Memphis is contracted to Barcelona until 2023 which means the club could be tempted to cash in to avoid lose him on a free transfer next year.
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