Memphis Depay reveals Man United misery: 'I lost the joy in playing football'

Memphis Depay has described his time at Manchester United as one of the darkest periods of his life, revealing he lost all joy in football during José Mourinho’s tenure and matched his entire Premier League goal tally for the club within his first start for Atletico Madrid.

The Dutch forward arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2015 with considerable expectation, having scored 28 goals in all competitions in his final Eredivisie season for PSV Eindhoven and impressed at the 2014 World Cup. But his time in England unravelled quickly, and he managed only two Premier League goals before departing in January 2017.

In his 2019 autobiography Heart of a Lion, Depay traced the roots of his unhappiness to the defensive demands placed on him by Louis van Gaal, before things deteriorated sharply when Mourinho took charge. He played just 134 minutes under the Portuguese manager.

“During that time I lost it,” Depay wrote. “After training I went home and didn’t want to see anybody. That was mentally a very bad period. And it got worse every day.”

Despite the outward trappings of life at one of the world’s biggest clubs — a house with a swimming pool, a Rolls-Royce, and the company of his close friend Gigi Vitale — Depay said the reality was far bleaker. “I was totally unhappy with my life. For the first time I lost the joy in playing football. The most beautiful thing in my whole life, football, gave me a very sad feeling. The frustration grew by the day and I didn’t know how to change that.”

His career recovered emphatically after leaving United. At Lyon, he averaged a goal or an assist every 100 minutes, form that earned him a move to Barcelona when compatriot Ronald Koeman took over at the Catalan club. He subsequently joined Atletico Madrid in January 2023 and, by only his fifth appearance — his first start — had already equalled his two-goal Premier League tally for United in the Rojiblancos’ league campaign.

His time at Atletico was not without its own frustrations, however. Depay later posted a cryptic farewell message hinting at dissatisfaction over a lack of game time under Diego Simeone before eventually departing the club.

Depay’s United chapter has resurfaced in the context of Manchester United’s Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid, a fixture that brings together two clubs with a longer shared history of players than is often remembered — among them David de Gea, who won European trophies with both. For Depay, the connection is a more painful one.