Depay to Man Utd: When Wayne Rooney burst out laughing at him

Memphis Depay’s time as a Manchester United player was incredibly forgettable.

The Dutchman signed in 2014 and was immediately given the number seven shirt, expected to be the young starlet that would propel the club forward again under Louis van Gaal.

Quite the opposite happened. Depay was very quickly out of his depth and failed to deliver on the promise he arrived with, and underwhelmed massively before leaving in 2017.

It would’ve been very easy for Depay to fade into obscurity after such a poor spell at United, where it all looked too much, too soon.

But, credit to him, he completely rebuilt himself at Lyon and finally looked like the player everyone expected him to turn into as he matured and found his stride in Ligue 1.

That resulted in him getting another chance at Europe’s elite level in 2021, as he signed for Barcelona on a free transfer.

Just a year later, though, Depay again finds himself cast aside by a fallen giant of a club and looks set to leave after failing to hit the ground running. And with a transfer to Juventus falling through, per Fabrizio Romano, a ‘new’ club has emerged as a potential destination – his former employers.

United are said to be considering a move for Depay before the transfer window shuts, with the Dutch forward available for a cut price, according to Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News.

Barcelona are keen to offload the 28-year-old despite only signing him last season, as they scramble to recoup finances in order to keep their own rebuild together. And with United still trying to strengthen their squad, re-signing Depay in a cut-price deal could prove an unexpected, but shrewd piece of business.

Depay’s time at United was underwhelming and many fans were bitterly