Former Southampton manager, Ronald Koeman, has admitted that he wanted to sign Memphis Depay for the Saints, but the Dutchman opted to join Manchester United instead of working under him at St. Mary’s. The former Barcelona defender is apparently a big fan of the former PSV starlet and would, according to himself, jump at the opportunity to sign him without a moment’s hesitation for Everton.
Ever since the self-proclaimed Special One took over the helm at Old Trafford, opportunities have been hard to come by for the young Dutchman. And Koeman insists that he would definitely give him a shot with the Toffees.
"I already wanted him at Southampton in 2015, but he picked Manchester United at the time, which was a logical choice. I would love to have him in my team at Everton", Koeman admitted.
The legendary defender then heaped praises on his compatriot, claiming that the Manchester United man has an array of skills that help him going forward as well be efficient in front of goal. Koeman also opined that all Memphis Depay needs is game time to be back at his best, something which the former Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho, isn’t offering him at the Theatre of Dreams.
"He is a very interesting player in my opinion. He has a lot of individual quality, is always dangerous going forward and is pretty efficient as well. He just needs to get regular playing time again."
Manchester United are not in the kind of form that makes them look like potential champions. As a matter of fact, they sit at 6th, tied with Ronald Koeman’s Everton at 18 points, and are far from looking like a team that spent a gargantuan amount of money in the summer to strengthen the squad.
One would have thought that at such adverse conditions, Jose Mourinho would at least give the Dutchman a start. However, Memphis is yet to start a game under the former Inter manager. All his 6 appearances have been from the bench and he seems like a far cry from the player that blazed the Eredivisie a couple of seasons ago.
Everton, meanwhile, are performing better than expected and are going through a phase of upward transition under Ronald Koeman—or so it seems, thus far. They managed to hold the barging Pep Guardiola-managed Manchester City and play like a finely drilled unit that ooze the persona of valiance.
