by Tim Stannard

Rudi Garcia reveals that no offer made for Memphis Depay but Friday's Bordeaux clash could be forward's final match for Lyon

Although Luis Suarez has blasted the rumor of a move to Juventus as 'fake news', there may well be a confession to a journalist down the line that he was merely downplaying the story, not wanting to unnecessarily panic rattled Barcelona supporters.

Suarez is either waiting for Gonzalo Higuain's move to Inter Miami to be confirmed and an appointment to gain an Italian passport, or rethinking joining up with Cristiano Ronaldo now that Lionel Messi is staying with Barcelona. That is causing a holding pattern for strikers to potentially take the Uruguayan's Camp Nou place. 

One of those forwards is thought to be the number one pick of Ronald Koeman - as if Barcelona coaches ever actually get a choice in the players the club signs. Lyon striker Memphis Depay was a hot transfer rumor during Messi's transfer maelstrom but that interest appears to have cooled off despite the Dutchman himself revealing that Barcelona had been in contact with his Ligue 1 team.

Memphis - as he prefers to be known - has another chance on Friday to give Barcelona's bosses a taste of things to come with a Camp Nou move. Lyon is in action against Bordeaux in the team's second league clash of the season. The first produced a hattrick against Dijon for Memphis.  

Lyon boss, Rudi Garcia, revealed on Thursday that there had been no offer made by Barcelona for the 26-year-old but certainly left the door open to the possibility that Memphis could be playing his final match for the Champions League semifinalists. 

"We will see what we can do with him on Friday, there is no reason why he’s not in the group, unless he leaves by then," shrugged Garcia. 

Bordeaux vs. Lyon is live, live, live on beIN SPORTS from 2:50PM ET preceded at 1PM ET with the start of the 2020-21 Turkish Super Lig as Fenerbahce takes on Rizespor. 

PSG hits early crisis ahead of Le Classique 

There will certainly be a spring in the step of Lyon's players - and all of the big teams in France that aren't PSG. 

The start of the season sees quite the window of opportunity for some title rivals to exploit a seven-man wide hole in PSG that was first exposed by Lens on Thursday. PSG is currently missing seven first-teamers including Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Mauro Icardi. These footballers are not expected back for at least another week meaning that PSG could be facing three more league matches with Jese Rodriguez puffing around up front as a striker. 

That's not ideal when Le Classique against Marseille is taking place on Sunday and Thomas Tuchel is even downplaying what was expected against newly promoted Lens. "A draw is the best we could have hoped for," was the admission from the German coach, who also revealed that Roma captain, Alessandro Florenzi, will join up with the team on a loan deal this weekend. 

Le Classique is live, live, live on beIN SPORTS on Sunday with coverage beginning from 2:30PM ET. 

LaLiga on eve of 2020-21 season start 

LaLiga was supposed to be kicking off on Friday, but some institutional infighting put paid to that idea. Instead, the 2020-21 season gets underway on Saturday. 

However, there will be six teams missing from the first weekend. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Getafe and Elche will all be joining the show next weekend - as in Madrid's case - or the weekend after due to being involved late doors in European competition in the 2019-20 season. 

The biggest cheese in action is Villarreal - Sports Burst's bold pick to win LaLiga with a 15-point margin - having signed up Takefusa Kubo and Dani Parejo to shore up the midfield, under the stewardship of new manager, Unai Emery.