Memphis Depay is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder (mostly a left winger) at the French club Lyon and the Netherlands national team. Previously, he played with PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United. Depay was named the “best young player” in the world in 2015, and was also recognized as the brightest Dutch talent that conquered European football since the days of Arjen Robben.
The footballer is known for his ability to “fint” and beat opponents in their half of the field, he has the highest dribbling skills, which is also considered one of the best in the world at such a young age. Among other things, the player is very mobile, filigree and intellectually savvy on the football field.
Biography
Memphis Depay was born on February 13, 1994 in the city of Mordrecht, the Netherlands. He is a graduate of the academies of football clubs "Sparta" and "PSV Eindhoven". At the age of eight, Memphis impressed the Sparta Rotterdam scouts, who attended a training session for the Mordrecht club. A talented guy was followed for three years before being lured into his academy. Sparta club chairman Tone Redegeld said: “Memphis was a very talented young man, if the team won with a score of 7: 0, it means that Depay scored a pent-trick and gave two goals.”
When Memphis turned 12, the PSV, Ajax, and Feyenoord scouts began to follow him. Soon Depay moved to Eindhoven.
Career at PSV
He started his professional career with PSV, where under the influence of head coach Philip Koku, the young midfielder became an integral part of the team, scoring 50 goals in 124 games in all competitions. During the 2014/15 season, Memphis Depay became Eredivisia's top scorer, scoring 22 goals in 30 matches. In the same year, a young midfielder helped the team win the Dutch championship, for the first time since 2008. For his services, Depay received the annual trophy of Johan Cruyff and was recognized as the "talent of the year" in the Netherlands.
Over the four seasons as part of the “red-white”, Depay became the champion of the Netherlands 2014/15, the owner of the Netherlands Cup 2011/12 and the owner of the Dutch Super Cup 2012.
Career at Manchester United
In 2015, Dutch footballer Memphis Depay was the subject of desire for many eminent clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
On June 12, the Red Devils confirmed that they had signed a four-year contract with Memphis for £ 25 million. July 10, the official presentation of the midfielder. He became the fourth player to join Manchester United from PSV after Jaap Stam, Park Ji Sung and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Here he received the legendary number 7, which had previously been assigned to such great football players as George Best, Brian Robson, Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Michael Owen and Angel Di Maria.
He made his debut for the “Mankunians” during the pre-season matches in the USA against the Mexican club “America” in Seattle on July 17 - he spent one time on the field. Four days later, he scored a goal against San Jose Earthquays.
In the English Premier League, M. Depay made his debut on August 8 in the match against Tottenham Hotspur (victory 1-0).
For two seasons in Manchester United he played 33 matches and scored 2 goals. With the arrival of head coach Jose Mourinho, as well as players such as Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zalatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rushford, the Dutch midfielder Memphis Depay ceased to appear at the base. The Portuguese coach did not see him as part of the "Red Devils", so it is extremely rare to let him out on the field. However, as part of Manchester United, Depay became the owner of the FA Cup 2016.
Going to Lyon
In January 2017, Memphis joined the French Lyon. The club paid 16.5 million euros for the player’s transfer. Depay currently plays regularly at the base and has already scored 24 goals in 53 matches.
Career Team
Depay represented his national team at every professional level from an early age. He was part of the youth team until the age of 17, which became the European champion in 2011.
In 2013, he held his first match for the adult squad of the Netherlands national team against Turkey (2-0 victory), and a year later he already played at the 2014 World Cup, where the Dutch team took third place. He played in many matches of the qualification of the 2018 World Cup, but his team did not get on the world Cup.