Former Manchester United forward Memphis Depay has come out to deny talks of him being open to leave Olympique Lyonnais for any one of a number of big European clubs, with the Netherlands international insisting that his words this week have been misconstrued by the media, confirming that he is not looking to leave the Ligue 1 club at this moment.
Depay was quoted as telling Dutch magazine Helden that he would like a move “to a club like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich” in the summer (apparently an actual quote, and not shameless SEO awareness). But the former Manchester United forward, who has scored five Ligue 1 goals this season, headed for Twitter to suggest his words were taken out of context.
According to him in a post on Twitter, he is sad that people would make much more out of his words than intended, saying he would not say anything bad about the club that gave him an opportunity in his lows – he endured a torrid spell at Manchester United before joining Lyon. “It’s really sad that other people, blogs and websites change my words just to put people against me! The real ones know. I would never say anything bad about Lyon, they are the club that gave me the opportunity when I needed it!”
Depay added: “The blogs and several websites just take a short quote out a big interview I did with Helden Magazine 2 MONTHS AGO! and make it look bad so and change my words, but once again if you been [sic] in this football industry for a while you will know. I really like Lyon and people see me in the streets all the time! I also mentioned that Lyon play better football then most of the clubs with big names! So before you try to call me names or attack me, make sure you get your facts straight instead of running with the rumours.”
The 24-year-old joined Manchester United after four years at PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie having turned down several bids from United’s Premier League rival, Arsenal. Then Red Devils boss and compatriot Louis van Gaal admitted he had been forced to make a move for Depay following interest from big-spending Paris Saint-Germain, with the player being handed the iconic number 7 by the club and initially looked to be an inspired signing with a number of goals scored early in his United career. But that would be a false dawn as Depay’s form became inconsistent, dovetailing into him making just four substitute appearance