Netherlands and FC Barcelona winger Memphis Depay is close to joining La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid during the January transfer window.
Depay has been considered by Atletico as the ideal replacement for Joao Felix, who joined Chelsea on a six-month loan contract.
According to MARCA, Depay's contract with Barcelona is set to expire in the summer, thus he is willing to sign a six-month loan agreement with La Rojiblancos in January.
As Atletico Madrid have now demonstrated more definite interest in the attacker than any of his other suitors, they have stepped up negotiations with La Blaugrana for the Dutch winger.
Depay has had a challenging season at Barcelona and has slipped down the pecking order behind players like Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha, and Ferran Torres.
However, according to SB Nation, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has admitted he is unaware of Depay's prospective transfer to Madrid.
As he is not eager to unload any of his present players, Xavi recently claimed that he would be content if his current group remained intact.
