Memphis Depay left Manchester United in 2017, but he has been linked with a return to the Premier League as he enters the final year of his contract with Barcelona.
As former Manchester United forward Memphis Depay is linked with a return to English football, the reasons for his departure from Old Trafford in 2017 may no longer be relevant.
Memphis' departure was attributed to fierce competition for positions at United by then-manager Jose Mourinho. After leaving Lyon in 2017, the Dutch international joined Barcelona in 2021 after an illustrious scoring record with the French club.
Barcelona's attack has been bolstered for 2022, with Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joining and others potentially joining. This could force Xavi's team to part ways with a player who has only one year left on his contract, though they want to find a replacement first.
Memphis scored seven goals in 53 appearances after joining United in a big-money move from PSV Eindhoven. The majority of those games were played under Louis van Gaal, with Mourinho allowing him to leave after only 18 months but including a buy-back clause that the English club never used.
The Dutchman drew attention for some of his off-field antics, such as arriving at training in a Rolls-Royce. Mourinho, on the other hand, insisted that had nothing to do with his decision to sanction the sale.
He was a fantastic professional, so anyone who believes he didn't work because he wasn't a great professional is completely incorrect "Mourinho stated this in 2017. "One thing is when someone takes a picture of him in an amazing car or dressed in a very specific way, but the image is completely incorrect.
The guy is a fantastic professional, he's a kid who respected everyone, he tried to work, was frustrated because he wouldn't have it, but I only have positive things to say about him "The manager went on. "If I can think of one reason, it's that he plays in the only position where we have over-booking.
He's a winger, and we have more of them, so it's the position where it's more difficult to get chances, where it's more difficult to be the next choice because it's a position where we never have problems. We have Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Mata, Ashley Young, Martial, and Rashford, so it's a position where we struggle to rotate.
Only two of Mourinho's six other players - Martial and Rashford - are still at the club. Mkhitaryan joined Arsenal in a trade for Alexis Sanchez in 2018, Young moved to Inter Milan in 2020, and Lingard and Mata both stayed until the end of the 2021-22 season.
Memphis, like Martial, would be an option in both a central and wide role after honing his skills in France and Spain. United have fewer options in central midfield after the close-season departure of Edinson Cavani and uncertainty surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo's future, and they continue to be linked with new recruits in attack.
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