Olympique de Marseille wanted Memphis Depay back in Ligue 1. His bank account had other ideas.

The Marseille hierarchy reached out to representatives for the 32-year-old Dutch forward as his contract with Brazilian club Corinthians approaches its expiration date of July 31, 2026. The club was exploring a free transfer, meaning no fee, just wages. That’s where things fell apart.

Depay’s salary expectations came in higher than Marseille was prepared to meet, and as of July 21, 2026, preliminary talks had stalled without meaningful progress. The club has since stepped back from the pursuit entirely, choosing to redirect its attention toward other attacking reinforcements for the upcoming season.

Why Marseille wanted him in the first place

The logic behind the approach was straightforward enough. Depay knows French football intimately, having spent four seasons at Lyon between 2017 and 2021. He was genuinely excellent there, transforming from an inconsistent wide forward into a commanding center forward capable of carrying a side on his own.

The problem with free transfers is that the money saved on the fee tends to migrate directly into the wage packet. Players arriving without a transfer fee attached often use that leverage to command a higher salary, because the buying club is, theoretically, already ahead financially. Depay, a full Dutch international with Champions League and World Cup experience, was clearly not going to price himself like a mid-table option.

The numbers that don’t add up

His stint at Corinthians, meanwhile, is worth contextualizing. Moving to Brazil represented a distinct shift in the trajectory of a career that had previously taken him through PSV, Manchester United, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Lyon. At 32, he sits in that uncomfortable zone for recruitment departments: old enough to carry some mileage risk, experienced enough to still command serious wages.