08/06/2015 09:00, Report by Mark Froggatt, Nathan Thomas
WHY MEMPHIS DEPAY WILL FIT IN AT UNITED
Much has been said and written about Memphis Depay since his impending transfer from PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United was agreed, but how much of it is accurate?
ManUtd.com spoke to Dutch journalist and recent MUTV pundit Thijs Slegers, of Voetbal International, to gain an insight into our prospective new signing, shine a light on his character and discover exactly why he has all of the potential needed to become a bona fide star at Old Trafford...
Memphis has a strong bond with the manager: "Louis van Gaal has experience with bringing younger players to the higher level; he has done this many times in the past and with Memphis it’s certain that they have a click together – you could see this during the World Cup. I would say that van Gaal is the reason why Memphis chose to go to United. Of course, Memphis really likes Manchester United but van Gaal was a really, really important factor."
Do not mistake confidence for arrogance: “The way Memphis was brought up has given him a fearless style to his playing. He has respect for his opponents but he does not fear them. When there is a road, he will take it and he doesn’t take no for an answer. I remember being at PSV’s summer training camp at La Manga when Memphis first joined up with the first-team squad at 16 years of age. What we saw there was a very confident young boy who was thinking ‘let me play in the first team’. Three years later he became a regular in the side and he has continued to prove he has been able to raise the bar every time he has a new challenge. That’s why I think he will succeed in the Premier League."
Memphis is a monster in the gym: "He has been working hard in the gym since being in the youth department of PSV and this summer the club are going to build a new gym for the youth in Eindhoven. One of the things they have planned is to have Memphis’ personal best next to each machine, because he has set a lot of records. This is to show exactly what they want from the young players and what is the benchmark. They’ve made Memphis the standard to aim for."
Compare him to Ronaldo, not Robben: "I don’t agree with the Robben comparison as Arjen is like Peter Pan when he’s dribbling, from left to right, with samba in his hips, whereas Memphis is more about power. Memphis can dribble also, but when you see him move you can see the strength in his movement – this really scares defenders. Robben is a different style of player to that. Memphis is a little bit like Cristiano; they have similar qualities, although there are of course areas where Memphis is inferior. However, his determination to be the best is where I see the real similarity with Cristiano."
Memphis can thrive in the Premier League: "If you’re looking at the Dutch league, he is a top, top player. He has been outstanding. However, this was not throughout the whole game. It was often 20 minutes good, sometimes 30, but not the whole game. He is a player capable of fantastic, brilliant moments, but what he has to do now is become more consistent. It is good that he has moved up to the Premier League because it demands 100 per cent in every minute of the game, which isn’t always the case in Holland as our league is not that impressive."
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