Manchester United have desperately needed a left-side flanker for quite a few years now, never really replacing the world’s best in Cristiano Ronaldo. But they have finally found a potential replacement in the promising young Dutch star Memphis Depay.
The 21-year-old finished his 2015 campaign for PSV Eindhoven with an admirable 26 goals and five assists from 36 appearances. But you must wonder, will he be able to cope in England where he comes up against arguably some of the best defences in the world?
As Manchester United progresses through the seasons their players start to get older, weaker, and slower as fatigue kicks in. It came to Louis van Gaal’s attention that Manchester needed some young blood and he immediately landed Angel Di Maria on a five-year contract and then looked for branching youngsters like Ander Herrera.
After these signings, we all expected at least a top three finish for the Red Devils but instead we saw a bumpy season including an embarrassing 5-3 loss to Leicester City which saw Manchester united finish the season in fourth place behind Arsenal.
An improvement from the 2013-14 season, but expectations were higher.
There is tonnes of pressure on Van Gaal and his players this season as there is on every club, which is why the signing of Depay is being criticised. The Dutch wonder kid lacks experience and you would expect him to take at least a few months to get into the real spirit of the English premier League.
United fans have already seen just how hard it is for even the best players to adapt, with Di Maria coming in for criticism during the second half of his debut season.
You would hope Van Gaal has a good start to the season and a good end, otherwise we may never see him as a coach in the Premier League again.
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