Memphis Depay reveals Man Utd misery: 'Football gave me a very sad feeling every day'

Memphis Depay has described his time at Manchester United as one of the darkest periods of his life, revealing he became deeply unhappy despite the outward trappings of success at one of the world’s biggest clubs. The Dutch forward’s candid reflections come as his two former sides, United and Atlético Madrid, prepare to meet in the Champions League on 13 October.

Depay joined United from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2015, reuniting with Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal, who had moved to Old Trafford the previous year. The move never delivered on its promise. He scored just twice in the Premier League across his first season, adding five goals in European competition, before José Mourinho’s arrival effectively ended his involvement — the forward received only 134 minutes of competitive football in his second campaign.

In his 2019 autobiography Heart of a Lion, Depay laid bare the psychological cost of that marginalisation. “During that time I lost it,” he 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.”

The 32-year-old acknowledged the disconnect between his circumstances and his state of mind. “Looking from the outside I had a good life: being a part of one of the biggest clubs in the world, living in a beautiful home with a swimming pool, together with my best friend Gigi, driving in a Rolls-Royce. But 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.”

Depay left for Lyon before United lifted the Europa League under Mourinho in 2017, having played no part in the knockout rounds. He subsequently rebuilt his career with strong spells in France and Spain, joining Barcelona before moving to Atlético Madrid, where he scored four league goals in his first half-season — twice his entire Premier League tally.

His time in the Spanish capital was not without friction, however. Depay departed with a cryptic farewell message that hinted at frustration over his role under Diego Simeone. “Not easy to say how I feel about writing this message because I feel that things could’ve been very different,” he wrote. “Maybe it’s better to keep that conversation for another time.”

The Champions League fixture between Atlético and United on 13 October will bring together two clubs that shaped — and in different ways complicated — one of the more turbulent careers in recent Dutch football history.