Early last month, Manchester United kick-started their spending spree for the season ahead by finalising a £22m deal for Dutch sensation Memphis Depay. The former PSV Eindhoven winger knocked back the attentions of Paris Saint Germain and Liverpool to sign a four-year deal at Old Trafford and revealed that the chance to reunite with Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal was too good an opportunity to turn down:
“I know the trainer (Van Gaal) very well. We have a good relationship. It was a little difficult with all the speculation about my future, but now I’ve chosen to sign for Manchester United and my dream came true. It shows that I’ve grown up as a player.”
Depay’s recent goal scoring exploits in the Eredivisie have placed a weight of expectation on his young shoulders, even drawing comparisons with the inimitable Cristiano Ronaldo. Although Van Gaal is excited by the new recruit’s potential, he stressed that the 21-year-old Depay will need time to acclimatise to the unique rigours of the Premier League:
“Youth is very important to this club and is a very big part of my philosophy as a manager. We have a number of young players in our first-team squad who have benefitted from experiencing first-team football this season and that will help their development going into next season. Memphis Depay [is] a young player who has come through the PSV Eindhoven academy system. I worked with Memphis during last summer’s World Cup with the Netherlands and he has great potential. The plan is to help him develop as a player, but we must all be patient. The Premier League is very different from any other league and it will take time for him to fully adapt to the pace and unforgiving nature of football in this country.”
The History
A precocious talent, Depay started in the youth system of hometown club Moordrecht before rising through the ranks at Sparta Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven. The winger sharpened his skills in PSV’s reserve team until 2011, at which point he earned his first team debut during an 8-0 thrashing of VVSB in a KNVB Cup fixture.
Depay logged ten further appearances in all competitions that season, netting five goals in the process. Despite being rewarded with an increased role in the following campaign, the Netherlands international could only muster three strikes in 30 outings, chalking up just two in the Eredvisie. The 2013/14 season marked Depay’s true breakthrough, harvesting 12 goals in 32 league fixtures and establishing him as potent threat from the left flank.
Depay sustained this momentum through the summer and netted twice during Oranje‘s entertaining World Cup run. His powerful running and penchant for fierce long-range shots inevitably caught the eye of a host of suitors, with United hotly tipped to snap up the youngster even at that stage.
In his most recent season with PSV, set-piece specialist Depay became the second-youngest player to receive the Golden Boot accolade in the Eredivisie, topping the scoring charts with 22 league goals; iconic Brazilian forward Ronaldo still holds that particular record, after he tallied 30 goals in his debut season for the club. Depay left a fitting parting note to his former employers, rifling home a 30-yard free kick during his swansong match – the seventh time he netted from a dead-ball situation last term.
In total, Depay racked up 50 goals and 29 assists over 124 matches for the Dutch outfit. On the international stage, he netted 14 times in 31 outings at youth level for Holland and has also scored twice in 15 appearances for the senior side.
The Prospects
As we saw last season with Van Gaal, reputation counts for little when constructing a starting XI. Angel di Maria arrived at Old Trafford for almost £60 million but quickly became a peripheral figure, whilst Radamel Falcao was marginalised in a season-long loan spell that harvested just four goals for the Colombian.
In the back-end of last season, Van Gaal finally discovered the midfield balance and fluidity he’d be striving for throughout the campaign. A 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur arguably presented the Dutchman’s 4-3-3 set-up in the best light and, from that point on, Juan Mata and Ashley Young flourished on the flanks, with the former bagging four goals in his next seven starts and the latter tallying five assists in eight.
Crucially, though, Depay’s arrival affords United a much-needed injection of speed in the final third. Having thrived on the left of a front three at PSV – cutting inside onto his favoured right foot – his acquisition certainly places major question marks over Young’s security of starts for the season ahead. He also offers an option through the centre if Van Gaal opts for a 3-4-1-2 formation, though it remains to be seen whether the Red Devils boss will return to such a system, having settled on a four-man backline in the final few months of the previous campaign.
Depay’s eye for goal also bolsters his Fantasy appeal. The youngster fired an eye-catching 162 attempts over 30 appearances last season – Alexis Sanchez was the highest in the Premier League with 121 – with an average of 5.4 shots per appearance indicative of his willingness to fire efforts from long-range. Given that Young produced 29 attempts in 26 appearances, the new boy will certainly boost his side’s prospects as Van Gaal looks to improve upon a record that saw United score just 62 times in the previous campaign.
Whilst Van Gaal’s above-mentioned quotes suggest that Depay will be eased gradually into first-team contention, the fact that he has already worked under his new manager is a major advantage. Dutch journalist Thijs Slegers revealed that in a recent interview, the youngster confessed he was a fan of Van Gaal’s no-nonsense approach:
“Last year Memphis gave an interview with me during a tough time for PSV and I said ‘what’s the problem here?’ He said ‘our coach needs to be tougher with us’ which caused a few problems when the coach read it. Van Gaal is tough and that’s what Memphis needs at the moment. Van Gaal is always looking for players to model into his own insight. What he sees in Memphis is a player that wants to learn from him and Memphis likes the way Van Gaal works.”
Ironically, Depay’s arrival comes at a time when United’s midfield had finally started to offer Fantasy managers viable options in the centre of the park. Mata and Young aside, the likes of Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera also picked up the points in the final few months of 2014/15. Indeed, having notched nine times last term, Mata – who is also United’s new spot-kick taker – could more than rival Depay as a Fantasy prospect, providing he can retain his role on the right of the front three.
Likely to come in around 8.5 – 9.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), it remains to be seen whether the new boy can immediately rise to the top of the United pecking order and cement a place in our Fantasy plans for the campaign ahead. Above all, Depay’s classification across the games will be pivotal to his appeal.
There’s no doubt that his arrival could see the likes of Adnan Januzaj pushed further down the pecking order, whilst rumours of a switch to PSG could see Di Maria exit the picture, too. United’s pre-season should help clarify matters, though Van Gaal will certainly be keen to utilise the strength and depth of his squad this time around after cementing a return to the European arena with a fourth place finish in his first season at the helm.
Further Reference
Memphis Depay Transfer Markt Page
8 years, 11 months agoHow much do you reckon Benteke would be next season if he was at Chelsea?
... oh and while i'm here, price predictions for Depay?