Memphis Depay Biography

Memphis Depay was born on 13 February 1994, in Moordrecht, a small village located in the Zuid-Holland province of the Netherlands. His father, Dennis Depay, was a first- generation Ghanaian migrant, while his mother, Cora Schensema, was Dutch. He was his parents’ only child.

When Memphis was four years old, his father abandoned the family, forcing Cora to move in with her parents, Kees and Jans Schensema. Under Kees’ guidance, Memphis soon became enthusiastic about football.

At the age of seven, he joined the local football club, vv Moordrecht. By then, he had also started rapping on the street; but when his coach asked him to choose between rapping and football, he reluctantly gave up rapping.  By the time he was eight, he had improved enough to be picked up by Sparta Rotterdam.

When he was nine years old, he and his mother moved in with a neighbor, with whom his mother had fallen in love. However, the man had many children, who beat him up so much that he dreaded going home from school, often sitting under his desk, crying.

By the time he and his mother returned to his grandfather’s home, Memphis Depay was mentally scarred. He refused to talk about his pain and fought with teachers and coaches, trying to hurt others as he had been hurt. By twelve, he had started drinking.

Despite his problems, he continued to excel in field, attracting the attention of renowned football clubs, eventually joining PSV Eindhoven in 2006 on the advice of his grandfather. However, it required him to leave home and move in with local host family, the Heijbloms.

At PVS Eindhoven, he continued to excel on the field; concurrently, he also continued to misbehave. However, under the influence of his mentor, Joost Lenders, manager Phillip Cocu, and his host, Mr. & Mrs. Heijblom, he soon began to mend his ways.

After being expelled from multiple schools for his misbehavior, he finally quit schooling in 2009, playing for the Netherlands U-16 national team in the same year. However, his grandfather’s death in 2009 created another void in him. But by then he had football to support him.

In 2011, Memphis Depay started playing for Jong PSV, which is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven, making his official debut on 21 September in a KNVB Cup second round match against amateur side VVSB. In the following year on 26 February, he took part in his first Eredivisie.

In 2011-2012, he made a total of eight league appearances, all as a substitute, scoring three goals.  That apart he also made three cup appearance, scoring two more goals, taking his tally to five. Meanwhile on 29 June 2012, eighteen years old Depay signed his first professional contract with PSV.

In the 2012-2013, he made a total of 20 league and four cup appearances, scoring two and one goal, respectively. Also in the same year, he made his debut at the UEFA, making a total of five appearances, without scoring a single goal.

On 30 July 2013, he scored his first goal in European football, drifting in from the left and then smashing the ball into the top corner past his opponent goalkeeper.  In 2013-2014, he made a total of 43 appearances, scoring 12 goals in the league and two in European football.

In 2014-15, he was the Eredivisie's top scorer with 22 goals in 30 games.  Also in 2014, he was selected to play in the FIFA World Cup and scored two goals in five appearances. Netherlands came third and his breakthrough performance caught the attention of big clubs, including Manchester United.

In May 2015, Memphis Depay joined Manchester United for a reported fee of £25 million. On 17 July, he made his Manchester United debut in a friendly match against Club América in Seattle, USA.  Four days later, he scored his first goal for the club in a match against the San Jose Earthquakes

On 8 August, 2015, he made his Premier League debut in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. He appeared in 29 League matches in the 2015-2016 and scored his first League goal on 26 September. However, it was not really a very successful season for him.

In October 2015, he was dropped for four consecutive matches for non-performance. His name was also deleted from the FIFA Ballon d'Or list. But by November, he was able to make a comeback, scoring his second Premier League goal in a match against Watford.

Continuing to perform, he also appeared in eleven UEFA Europa League matches in 2015-2016, scoring a total of five goals, receiving accolades from club management. Concurrently, he continued to play for his national team; he made six appearances in 2016 and scored two goals for Netherland.

2016-2017 was a bad season for Memphis Depay; he played as a substitute in four league matches only. Finally on 20 January 2017, he signed a four-and-half-year deal with Olympique Lyonnais and made his competitive debut for his new club on 22 January. He appearing in 17 Ligue 1 matches in 2016-2017 and scored five goals.

In 2017-2018, he scored a total of 19 goals in 36 Ligue 1 matches and three goals in 10 Europa matches. Meanwhile from June 2017, he began pursuing a hip-hop career and releasing a Los Angeles-inspired freestyle, LA Vibes.

Continuing to excel on field, he scored 12 goals in 47 appearances in 2018-2019, 15 goals in 22 appearances in 2019-2020 and 22 goals in 40 appearances in 2020-2021. Concurrently, he continued to pursue his musical career, releasing his debut album, Heavy Stepper, on 27 November 2020.

Concurrently with club appearences, he continued to play for his national team, scoring five goals in 2018, six in 2019 and two in 2020. He scored his last two international goals on 30 March 2021 in a match against Gibraltar in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification round.

On 19 June 2021, Memphis Depay joined La Liga club Barcelona on a free transfer. He made his debut for Barcelona on 15 August 2021 in a match against Real Sociedad, which Barcelona won by 4–2.

He scored his first goal for Barcelona on 21 August 2021, in a match against Athelic Bilbao, which ended in a 1–1 draw.

In 2014-2015, Memphis Depay was awarded with Johan Cruyff Trophy for being the most impressive young player in the Eredivisie that season.

In 2015, he was awarded as France Football Best Young Player.

Better known simply as Memphis, he does not use his surname on his jersey because of his father’s desertion.

He is said to have 47 on his body, each having a specific meaning.

On 28 May, 2019, he released his biography, Heart of a Lion, which has been co-written by Simon Zwartkruis.