London, September 12: Memphis Depay is a talented player who can offer a lot, but Louis van Gaal has warned Barcelona that the Lyon forward will not solve all of their problems.
The 27-year-old is a target for the La Liga giants, where former Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman is in charge following Quique Setien's dismissal.
After a disappointing spell under Van Gaal at Manchester United, Dutchman Depay has revived his career at Lyon by scoring and assisting a combined 63 goals in three full seasons at the Groupama Stadium.
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But Van Gaal, who also coached Depay for the Netherlands national side, said Barca would not be getting a world-class player of similar calibre to Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
You know we never got things the easy way! It builds our character and makes us mental stronger.
— Memphis Depay (@Memphis) September 10, 2020
Succes on this new journey bro I’m sure you going to kill it. Bless up Youngking Kenny Tete. pic.twitter.com/U304MAzJEC
"There's always a question mark," he told Tuttomercatoweb. "Depay is an interesting player, especially when he's free to play.
"But we have to consider adapting to a new culture and a new team. And the first year is always the hardest. Look at [Matthijs] de Ligt or Frenkie de Jong.
"Depay has talent, but he's not Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo."
Depay picked up from where he left off by scoring a hat-trick against Dijon in Lyon's opening game of the Ligue 1 season last month, before playing a full part in both of the Netherlands' Nations League games over the past week.