da bet esporte： The 30-year-old forward has frustrated throughout his career, but he could play a key role in Wednesday's Euro 2024 semi-final against England

da bwin： Ahead of the Netherlands' Euro 2024 group game against France, presenter Gary Lineker asked Wayne Rooney if Memphis Depay "deserved" the reputation he cultivated at Manchester United as a problem player.

"Yes and no, if I'm being honest," Rooney said of his former team-mate. "I think, firstly, you could never knock his work-rate or his attitude in training. He worked very hard every single day to try to improve himself. But it was more to do with a few things off the pitch…

"Like, I once spoke to him about turning up for a reserve game and being a bit more low-key. But he turned up in a Rolls-Royce and a cowboy hat! So, that was Memphis."

It still is, of course. There's nothing low-key about a character that sports a hairband and a hairstyle that make him one of the most instantly recognisable players on show in Germany. However, there's certainly a lot more to Memphis than tales of eccentricity and extravagance. He's easily one of the more fascinating figures in the game today, as compelling as he is controversial.

Getty 'I was called 'monkey' and 'sh*thead''

As nearly everyone who follows football knows, Memphis only wanted to be known by his first name for many years because of his tumultuous relationship with his father Dennis, who walked out on his mother when Memphis was only three years of age.

Divorce can do enormous emotional damage to a child no matter the outcome, but things worked out even worse for Memphis, as his mother remarried and moved in with a man who already had 10 children. Life became unbearable for the eight-year-old Memphis, who suffered constant physical and mental abuse at the hands of his step-brothers in his new home.

“Mostly it involved fights with the fists, but I was also threatened with a knife a number of times," he revealed in his autobiography . "Another time, a boy clamped a pair of pliers on my ear and started pulling hard. I was constantly on my guard. I was called 'monkey' and 'sh*thead'."

AdvertisementGettyDream move to disaster

Football offered Memphis an escape from the misery of his daily life but, even as he progressed through the youth team ranks at hometown club Moodrecht, Sparta Rotterdam and then PSV, he carried with him a deep-rooted rage.

Working with Fred Rutten in Eindhoven helped him at least partially control his anger and he ended up making his first-team debut for PSV in September 2011 while still only 17 years age. By the time he'd turned 21, he was being labelled the best young player in the world by

There were those that remained concerned by his perceived cockiness, but it was also argued that his self-belief would stand him in good stead when he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2015 – and promptly took the No.7 jersey in typically self-assured fashion.

The fact that one of his compatriots, Louis van Gaal, was sitting in the Old Trafford hotseat at the time also appeared to bode well. In reality, though, the "dream move" proved a disaster.

Getty'I lost myself in Manchester'

Memphis lasted just 18 months at United, during which time he managed to score just two Premier League goals in 33 appearances. He grew so confused and disillusioned by Van Gaal's methods and demands that he actually welcomed his fellow Dutchman's dismissal at the end of his first season in England, particularly as the manager had left him out of his squad for the 2016 FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace.

However, Memphis fared no better under Van Gaal's successor, Jose Mourinho, who sanctioned the winger's sale to Lyon in January 2017.

"I lost myself in Manchester," he admitted in . “I only realised it later. I blamed everyone at the time – everyone except myself. I thought Van Gaal was a d*ckhead, Mourinho was an a*sehole; nobody was any good in my eyes.

"Obviously, that’s not how life works but that was how I saw it at the time. I hadn’t just lost myself, I'd neglected my relationship with God as well. Then, you're on your own. And you won't make it."

Getty Images'Changed for good'

In France, Memphis found both God and his form. He became a Christian in 2016 and he credits his faith with revitalising his career. "I changed for good," he once said of his conversion. "God had been always been on my side. It was me who hadn't been there for Him before.

He was certainly different on and off the field at Lyon, for whom he scored 76 times in 178 appearances.

"I was barely 23 when I arrived," he told shortly before his departure for Barcelona in 2021. "I have grown up. Here, I became a man. When I look back, I think it is a wonderful thing. I have built memories that will last for a long time, friendships too. Here, this was my home. I have had magnificent times here. I played in the Champions’ League, I became captain, a better player and a more complete player."

He certainly looked it during the early stages of his Camp Nou career, with Memphis scoring eight goals in his first 14 outings in La Liga. However, the attacker's momentum was interrupted by a couple of injuries during the winter months of his debut season at Barcelona, and he never managed to regain it.

He'd become a bit-part player under Xavi when the Catalans agreed to sell him to rivals Atletico Madrid in January 2023 to help balance the books.