When Manchester United supporters contemplate their brief flirtation with Memphis Depay, the words of Wayne Rooney this past weekend will feel the most telling.
‘Memphis?,’ Rooney began. ‘He came on at Stoke away and messed up for their goal so Louis van Gaal made him play for the reserves the next day. I said, ‘Look, it’s a bit difficult [for you]. Just don’t come in with all your fancy stuff.’
‘And he turned up for the reserve game in his Rolls-Royce, wearing a leather jacket and a cowboy hat. And I just thought, ‘What’s the point?’
Manchester United flop Memphis Depay is back in the city with Lyon as they prepare to face Manchester City in their first Champions League group match
The Dutch winger often cut a frustrated figure during his short time with United having been signed by Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2015
As he returns to Manchester this evening as a Lyon player to face Manchester City, this is the perception often held of Depay in English football; an exasperating blend of razzmatazz, theatricality and ultimately poor outcomes.
Yet when the winger arrived at Old Trafford from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2015, expectations were high for the young player. Van Gaal hailed him as the ‘greatest talent of his age.’
Emblazoned across his chest in sprawling italic letters is one his favourite tattoos. It reads ‘Dream Chaser’ and at the Theatre of Dreams, Depay appeared to have found his natural habitat. He immediately demanded the No 7 shirt previously worn by Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham.
Yet his time in Manchester underwhelmed. He scored only seven goals for United, and four of those came against the Club Brugge and Midtjylland.
By the end of Van Gaal’s reign, Depay did even make the squad for the FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace.
The Dutchman didn’t help himself by dressing flamboyantly and flaunting his wealth
Depay started his Old Trafford career with a stunning goal against Club Brugge at Old Trafford
Under Jose Mourinho, he played only 20 minutes of Premier League football and started just one game in all competitions, in an EFL Cup match at Northampton. Depay was substituted on 55 minutes, with the scores tied at 1-1.
Certainly, there is a feeling among his former team-mates that Depay ought to have sacrificed more to achieve his ambitions at Old Trafford.
At Manchester United, they are accustomed to flamboyance but even his privileged peers were taken aback by the man who once had a temporary tattoo on the inside of his lip that read ‘succesvol’ (successful) and arrived in Manchester kitted out in nearly £10,000 worth of Louis Vuitton accessories.
Depay’s failings did not, however, exist in a vacuum. He is one of many attacking players to have suffered under Van Gaal at Old Trafford.
Team-mates such as Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Robin van Persie, Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj all became inhibited at different stages as speed and penetration disappeared from United’s play.
Van Gaal was a big admirer of Depay but he failed to produce his best form at Old Trafford
Jose Mourinho decided to sell the winger, but United retain a buyback clause in his contract
Januzaj recalled: ‘There was not the same freedom. A winger needs that confidence, a manager telling you, ‘Go and take people on’. With Van gaal, it was a slow passing game.
‘It was not only me. As a footballer, if you think too much on the pitch, it is never good. You need instinct in your play. When the ball came to us, we had to stop and think, ‘What are we going to do with it here?’, ‘I can’t lose the ball’.’
Depay hinted at the same issue at a press conference on Tuesday.
The Dutchman said: ‘Once you lose your connection with the coach and don’t feel confident, it’s difficult – especially if people expect a lot of you young.’
To Depay’s credit, however, he takes personal responsibility too.
He added: ‘You cannot just blame a way a team plays for the performance i showed when I was at Manchester United. Everybody knows the story of me and United was not successful. I can look back and say I didn’t want it to go like that – nobody did – but things happened.
‘After one season, I couldn’t find myself in the team. I was still young, didn’t get a lot of opportunities but I must say that the first season I didn’t put the quality on the table that i thought I would.’
Depay has rediscovered his form with Lyon and returns to Manchester to face City
He has a good opportunity to prove his doubters wrong in Wednesday night’s match
Despite his quirks, Depay remained popular among many in the United dressing room and his impression on Mourinho was such that the manager insisted United insert a buyback option and a sell-on clause into the transfer to Lyon in January last year.
There was also an understanding of Depay’s complicated personal history.
His father left home at a young age and life with his step-father was difficult enough to justify PSV introducing a life coach to Depay when he signed for the club at the age of 12. Depay’s professional relationship with Joost Leenders only ended when he was 19.
United may also reflect on the wisdom of increasing the player’s annual income by five times upon his move to Old Trafford.
With his feet now more firmly on the ground, and his ego humbled by the Old Trafford ordeal, Depay’s form is back on the upturn. Still only 24 years of age, he scored 22 goals for Lyon last season and has started this season impressively, too.
At the Etihad this evening, he may finally reveal his true colours in Manchester.