Memphis Depay is already Manchester United's most dynamic, exciting and creative player. The silky touch of Juan Mata, the bowling ball physique of Wayne Rooney and the calm composure of Michael Carrick all bring something necessary to the team, but those players and skills are virtually meaningless if they're not accompanied by someone with the audacity of Memphis. At the end of the day, someone has to try something out of the ordinary to surprise opponents, and Memphis is the man currently filling that role.
Manchester United keep whiffing on transfers, but Memphis Depay can save them
He’s only three games into his Manchester United career and Memphis Depay is already a star. He shouldn’t have to be, but he is, and he’s going to cover up their glaring mistakes.
Memphis again, 2-1 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/ApYdYUyROs
— Arsène's Son (@hughwizzy) August 18, 2015 Great teams usually have more than one player like this. The brilliance of Barcelona is in their balance -- Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets would hardly look world class without Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez in front of them; those four would entertain, but win no trophies without the men behind them.
United are currently getting half of that equation right. They've done a brilliant job this summer solidifying the foundation of their team with Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger, but they're in need of a second spark if they want to achieve their goals.
They’re struggling mightily to land a player who will provide it, having lost the race for Pedro to Chelsea and gotten told Thomas Müller isn’t for sale despite a £60 million bid. With 12 days to go in the transfer window, manager Louis van Gaal and CEO Ed Woodward appear to be flailing, throwing their money in random directions, just hoping the right player lands in their lap. If the previous two summer windows are any indication, they’ll end up overpaying for a broken shell of a man or a utility player who doesn’t solve their problems on deadline day.
And then there's the comical David De Gea situation, in which United has handed Real Madrid all the leverage in the world by benching their top goalkeeper. They insist that De Gea will not be moved unless their asking price is met ... while not starting him. Way to put your foot down and show him who's boss, guys!
While United got a lot of good business done early, they’re quickly barreling towards September with an incomplete squad. They need to get bailed out in some way, like they have so frequently since Cristiano Ronaldo departed.
Javier Hernandez was better in his debut season than he had any right to be. A couple years later, Robin van Persie stunningly refused a new contract at Arsenal and demanded to be sold. These were extremely fortunate events. When David Moyes arrived, he failed to get lucky and fell flat on his face.
Last year, United were bailed out by their rivals' incompetence or bad timing. Despite insisting they would not do a Tottenham -- because if you spend £100 million you'd expect to win the league -- Liverpool did exactly what Spurs did after the sale of Gareth Bale: wasted the money they made from the Luis Suarez transfer by spending indiscriminately. Spurs, still recovering from buying The Bale Seven and struggling to adjust under a new coach, couldn't provide a real top four challenge. Manchester City spent much of the season playing poorly, as Yaya Toure either hid an injury or sulked about the Blues not caring enough about his birthday, if not both. The Premier League only had one genuinely good team, so United limped to fourth.
Spurs and Liverpool don’t look good enough to prevent United from doing the same this year, which doesn’t really matter, because a repeat season is likely to get van Gaal fired. Last season was supposed to be a transition campaign and this one is supposed to feature a title challenge, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely with Woodward whiffing repeatedly in the market as Rooney plays like he spent his offseason eating delivery pizza and watching Netflix on the couch. United aren’t bad, but they’re extremely flat.
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That is, except for Memphis. His signing is probably Woodward’s best piece of business since he took over transfer dealings after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, simply because he filled such an immediate need and was signed in May, not late August. Woodward deserves to be taken to the woodshed by United supporters for the way he’s handled the last three summers, but credit where credit’s due -- Memphis was a great capture, and he was captured efficiently.
Still, there’s too much on his shoulders right now. At 21 years old and in his first season outside of the Eredivisie, a league in which dozens of genuinely poor players and future defensive midfielders have posted 20-goal seasons, Memphis shouldn’t be United’s star. He should be a complimentary player. There should be a Müller, or a Cristiano Ronaldo, or at the very least a Pedro there to share some of the attacking burden and take the pressure off him. Instead, he will have to be his team’s most dynamic attacker for at least the next three games, if not an entire season.
This is insane, and should not happen at a club with United’s money or drawing power. But ultimately, it might not matter, because Memphis is already dominating. He looks fearless, completely unfazed by wearing the famous Manchester United No. 7, and he’s doing things like beating six defenders by his damn self.
Memphis Depay levels it up. #MUFC pic.twitter.com/SDDUBp21dz
— Arsène's Son (@hughwizzy) August 18, 2015 This year’s “Chicharito overachieving” or “van Persie raising a stink at Arsenal” or “rivals throwing £100 million into a dumpster” appears to be a 21-year-old prospect playing at an elite level instantly.
Woodward’s getting shown up in the market right now. And not just by a bunch of real sporting directors, but even by Madrid chairman Florentino Perez, a grown man moonlighting as a teenage jersey-chaser. He probably texted Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge “LMAO FAM” with like 15 crying emojis when the British tabloids ran stories about United making Ronaldo and Müller their top transfer targets. But United should be fine despite that -- even if De Gea leaves at a price Madrid finds acceptable, while United fails to land a big star, there’s an excellent chance they’ll finish top four and make the Champions League knockout stages anyway.
The biggest reason for that is Memphis. United still have 12 days left to land their hypothetical superstar signing and make a real push at trophies, but they will hang on even if they fail. Memphis is already good enough to carry them to an acceptable season, even if he shouldn’t have to.
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