Nice president Jean Pierre Rivere has revealed the Ligue 1 leaders are interested in signing Manchester United outcast Memphis but admits they can’t afford to bring him to the club this month.
Memphis, 24, has been given the all clear to leave Old Trafford this month after failing to make any impression under Jose Mourinho this season.
The Netherlands international, like Morgan Schneiderlin, will only be allowed to leave United if their terms are met in the deal and Nice president Rivere has cooled talk of a January move for the United outcast.
“We looked at him, like a lot of clubs have, but it is extremely complicated” Rivere told French radio station RMC, via Get French Football.
“It is a situation which is out of our financial reach. You have a club that bought him for a certain amount, that wants to sell him. When we looked at Depay, it was in another way, which is not possible today.
“He was bought very expensively by Manchester United, they want to possibly sell him and we cannot compete in this sort of situation.”
Nice has become a hub for players thrown to the wayside by their former clubs in the last two season. Hatem Ben Arfa enjoyed his finest season to date in the colours of Nice last season before earning a high profile move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, while Mario Balotelli is now thriving there this time around.
Of players to have started at least 10 games in the last two Premier League campaigns only Kelechi Iheanacho (every 19.9 mins) is dispossessed more frequently than Memphis (every 21 mins).
For more stats on Memphis, click here visit his WhoScored player page