Player Analysis: Memphis Depay

Dutch players have come and gone from the Premier League, some have been a roaring success like Dennis Bergkamp or Robin van Persie, some not so much like Nigel de Jong but in the summer of 2015 when Manchester United splashed out £25million on the Dutch sensation Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven on the insistence of then manager Louis van Gaal, there was a belief that Depay would be another Ruud van Nistelrooy and not an Alexander Büttner.

When he did play, his performances created more surrounding noise around his off the field issues. Van Gaal decided to pull him out of the limelight by not selecting him. He knew a sports psychologist and suggested that Depay set up a meeting.

Van Gaal was trying to help but he thought it would never work. Depay had only ever opened up to people he knew well and by then, his relationship with Van Gaal was already floundering. At the time, Depay had finished the 2014/15 season as the Eredivisie’s top scorer with 22 goals as PSV won a first top-flight title in seven years.

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