Barcelona fans have been on cloud nine for the past few weeks thanks to their club’s impressive moves in the transfer market.
Despite their financial difficulties, the Catalans have managed to rope in big names such as Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski to bolster the attack. This was made possible following the successful activation of economic levers that has now freed up the necessary funds.
These arrivals have ensured that Xavi Hernandez’s team arrive in the US for their pre-season tour with a competitive squad, spearheaded by a fearsome attack composed of Raphinha, Lewandowski, Ansu Fati, Aubameyang, Dembele and Memphis Depay.
As these varied profiles began sharing the pitch for the first time during training at Fort Lauderdale in Florida, the players were paid a visit by two former attackers of Barcelona Thierry Henry and Sergio Aguero.
The latter only left Barca in 2021 following a one-year spell while Henry spent three illustrious years at the club (2007-10) where he also won the treble.
The two ex-Cules dropped by the training centre on Monday as Barca continued their preparations for their upcoming pre-season game against MLS side Inter Miami. The Frenchman could be seen meeting and shaking hands with almost every single first-team player.
But as Henry was mingling with the squad it looks like he did not mete out equal treatment to all the players as the Frenchman appeared to be snubbing Memphis Depay.
In the video posted by Barca’s Twitter page, Henry can be seen speaking to players such as Pique and Busquets who he played with or with popular talents such as Pedri, Gavi or new man Raphinha. The rest of the players simply received a handshake and moved on.
But it appears that Depay was expecting to have a chat with Henry and was turned down instead by the Frenchman.
While both men might have appeared to be on the same side with the shared Barcelona crest on their shirts, a look at their respective careers might say otherwise.
Both players have played in England for opposing sides with Henry having played for Arsenal and Depay for Manchester United after being snubbed by the Gunners back in 2015.
More recently, the two men have met on opposing sides for international fixtures with Depay being a key player for the Netherlands and Henry currently being the assistant coach for the Belgium national team.
In his defence, Depay is not the first player to have received the snub from the French international who also failed to return texts sent by Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk as the Dutchman revealed during a CBS Sports studio interview.
But as both VVD and Henry soon exchanged jerseys when the Netherlands played Belgium last month, perhaps Depay too would be hoping for another shot at linking up successfully with the Frenchman.