Memphis Depay has admitted he was left confused by his time at Manchester United, questioning why the club signed him if they were not going to play him in his preferred role. The winger arrived with much fanfare in 2015 and was handed the iconic No.7 shirt at Old Trafford.
A promising talent who struggled to adapt
The then-21-year-old was regarded as one of the most promising talents in European football. United boss Louis van Gaal said the club had acted decisively to beat Paris Saint-Germain to Depay's signature.
The Netherlands international, whose country faces Serbia on Sunday, had lit up the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven. Depay joined United from the Dutch giants after scoring 28 goals in 40 games during his final season.
The £25million summer signing was expected to go from strength to strength at United and become a cornerstone of the team in the early post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. However, the left winger struggled to adapt to Van Gaal's demands and was left questioning why he had been signed.
Depay's confusion over his role
“At United I got confused,” Depay wrote in his Heart of a Lion autobiography in 2019. “I had to follow the tactical orders of Van Gaal, otherwise I would certainly lose my spot in the team.
“Van Gaal doesn't like players who don’t follow up on his comments. Meanwhile I knew I couldn't get the best out of my play this way: staying on the left side of the field, running back and forth.
“I didn't understand: you buy me because of my specific qualities you saw at PSV and the Dutch national team. After that you put me in a role where I can't play that way anymore. For me that was confusing.”
A brief Old Trafford stint
In his only full season at United, Depay started 27 of his 45 appearances, scoring seven and assisting five goals in all competitions. Adjusting his game under Van Gaal saw Depay, who later became the Netherlands' all-time top scorer, become less of a goal threat.
However, rather than being something to build on, the 2015/16 campaign proved to be the highlight of his 18-month stint at Old Trafford. The following season, the forward started just one of eight appearances under new manager Jose Mourinho before joining Lyon for an initial £16m in January 2017.
Upon joining the French club, Lyon's new No.9 outlined a desire to rediscover his prolific PSV form. He said: “I did in the past and I didn't show it every time at Manchester. I want to score goals and get that feeling back again.”
Flourishing after leaving United
Depay soon showed that the club were perhaps too quick to sell him, leaving the Reds to wonder what could have been. The forward shone for Lyon over the next four-and-a-half years, scoring 76 goals and assisting 56 in 178 games, as he morphed into a striker.
Depay subsequently joined Barcelona as a free agent in 2021 and later spent 18 months with Atletico Madrid before signing for Brazilian giants Corinthians in 2024. On the international stage, the 32-year-old broke Robin van Persie's Dutch scoring record in September 2025 and has notched 55 goals in 112 caps.
The former United star was most recently in the Netherlands squad at the 2026 World Cup, featuring in three games, as the team exited in the round of 32.
