4 and a half years after his arrival, the Dutch striker will play his 178th and last match tonight with Olympique Lyonnais. Barring an improbable turnaround, Memphis Depay, at the end of the contract, is free to choose his future destination, if possible leaving OL in the Champions League. He will leave the image of a gifted player, who will have marked his passage to become a respected captain.
From fickle young player to iconic leader
After a failure at Manchester United, Memphis Depay arrives in Lyon in January 2017, becoming the sixth most expensive signing in club history. There were divisions over the merits of his coming? He will have made everyone agree.
“I was barely 23 when I arrived. I have changed, I have grown. Here was my home. I played in the Champions League, I became captain, a better player. “
Memphis will leave OL like a mature player having assumed responsibilities. Sometimes put on the bench or sent to the stands, he will have remained a model teammate. He could have tripped in these complicated moments, but will have known re-mobilize to invest in the club and make it efficient. Depay is convinced to be too strong for OL? He did everything to prove it.
The one we imagined playing solo to attract a bigger club is finally became a legitimate OL captain. One evening in December 2019, he asserted himself as a true leader. After the match against RB Leipzig (2-2) in the Champions League where he offers the qualification, the captain did not hesitate to go to the confrontation with the supporters, when the Lyon public attacked Marcelo.
???????? “I’m furious. I have to be careful, because it reminds me of my past and I don’t want to be that man anymore. I have become calmer, I have no words for it . “
???? On the verge of tears, Memphis Depay reacted to the incidents after #OLRBL at the microphone of RMC Sport pic.twitter.com/IGCaMqxmeR
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) December 10, 2019
His stint at OL will also have made him evolve in his game. The number 10, omnipresent in the Lyon game, has become an altruistic playmaker and a true scorer. Appointed captain since fall 2019 par Rudi Garcia, Memphis influenced the fate of OL, where he carried his team through difficult times. The Dutchman established himself as a leader and ended up winning unanimous support.
Memphis, the king of strong emotions
Influential in the Lyon game and displaying statistics to make its detractors green, the Dutch will also have provided unforgettable emotions. With a celebration that has become iconic and his huge lion tattooed on the back, Lyon supporters were not bored with Memphis Depay.
He will have had some gestures of pure madness, like this 50-meter lob against Toulouse in 2017, voted the best goal of the season in L1. There will also have been striking goals, like this missile at the last second to offer victory against PSG in a Groupama Stadium on fire (2-1), or the freezing cold set at the Vélodrome, when he scored the 2-3 goal with a header lobed, before performing its celebration with the open arch.
Memphis Depay knows how to lift Lyon’s hearts, and shows that OL can count on him. In April 2018, it delivers four assists and one goal in one game in Metz (0-5). A month later, during the last match of the season against Nice, he slammed a hat-trick to send OL to the Champions League.
Impressive influence and statistics
His coaches have long sought the formula to combine his talent and the collective. Positioned on one side or in the axis, Depay is better behind an attacker and free to move, where he is able to topple everything on a stroke of genius.
Nevertheless, he will have marked his passage in Lyon in the field, where it displays statistics of (very) high level. Dutch matters 76 goals and 53 assists in 177 games with Lyon. Not only was he often decisive, but he has also been in several important games. In four and a half years, he has led OL to two podiums already, with a Champions League semi-final and a League Cup final lost on penalties last year.
During the 2017-2018 season, he signed an impressive record of 22 goals and 17 assists, where he ends club’s top scorer and passer in the league. He notably had a phenomenal impact in the final sprint to snatch the podium ahead of OM. He got away the following season with 12 goals and 16 assists, which remains honorable. In 2019-2020, before his injury, he will have scored six goals in the Champions League.
This season, the Dutchman is the key man for Olympique Lyonnais. He almost single-handedly carried the club’s hopes of regaining the Champions League. On several occasions, he launched the Lyon revolt in poorly embarked matches, for example by being the main architect of Lyon’s victory in Monaco (2-3). His statistics in Ligue 1 are more remarkable than ever, with 20 goals and 10 assists. He is the only player to have totaled at least 10 goals and 10 assists over 3 different seasons in Ligue 1 over the last 15 seasons. A new demonstration that in Lyon, there is Memphis Depay and the others.
???? @Memphis is having a great season with the@OL #NOOL pic.twitter.com/CVsYxi4as1
— Ligue 1 Uber Eats (@Ligue1UberEats) May 16, 2021
The cruciate ligaments, a simple stop
On December 15, 2019, after a brilliant start to the season, OL’s number 10 was hit in the knee against Rennes. He is seriously injured, with a rupture of the cruciate ligaments. Mid-December, the Memphis season is already finished. In its misfortune, the Covid-19 pandemic turns everything upside down: the competitions are arrested, that the Champions League is shifted, and the Euro as well.
So, the Dutchman works hard and ends up coming back in record time. In August 2020, he participates in the epic of OL until the semi-final of the Champions League, by registering a panenka against Juventus. Physically reduced, he is only a shadow of himself during this Final 8.
Despite persistent rumors of departure in the summer of 2020, Memphis remains at OL. For its last season, Lyon will have experienced a great Memphis Depay. He fulfilled his contract, making a habit of carrying the team to win matches. It’s hard to believe he’s coming back from the Crusaders.
A feeling of unfinished business and regret at OL
Although Memphis has left his mark on OL, the 13th top scorer in the history of the Rhone club admits it: the lack of title during its passage the penalty.
“When I turn around today, I miss a trophy. It’s very difficult for me to tell myself that I haven’t won anything in Lyon. “
On the side of Lyon supporters, his departure leaves a bitter taste : the Dutchman leaves with an empty track record. What if Memphis had been able to participate in the final phase of the 2017 Europa League, where OL failed in the semi-finals? What if he hadn’t been in recovery after the Crusades, when he dueled against Neuer in the Champions League quarter-finals? Despite these regrets, Memphis will have given everything. In return, the club made him happy to be a footballer again..
But until then, the only thing that matters to him is to qualify OL for the Champions League. It will be about the dutchman’s last mission, before leaving the Rhône for other horizons.
Where will his future be written?
Memphis Depay never hid it: he aims higher than Olympique Lyonnais. In a few weeks, the Dutchman will have a place in a very big European club. The interested party says it himself: “If I had the same stats at PSG as those I have in Lyon, everyone would know in Europe”. Difficult to prove him wrong.
His ambition is clear : “I want to go to one of the top two or three clubs of the five big leagues”. After choosing a few days ago to represent himself, the Dutchman wants to negotiate his next contract himself.
More, where will Memphis Depay play next season ? FC Barcelona have shown interest for many months, but other clubs are also interested. According to Sports world, Memphis Depay’s arrival at Barça would be conditioned on the retention of Ronald Koeman. The Catalan daily also reportsan interest from Juventus for the Dutch striker.
✈️???? Announced at Barça, Memphis Depay has an offer from Juventus, which would be much more attractive than that of the Catalan club.
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) May 22, 2021
It will nevertheless be necessary to be patient to find out, since the Dutch wish to procrastinate : “I’m going to focus on the Euro, and I’m in no rush”. For his part, Rudi Garcia admitted, at a press conference, to have less hope of having the Dutchman in his ranks next season. Memphis is at home in Lyon anyway: he is at home.
By virtue of his aura and his performance, the man with the lion tattooed on his back has made himself a special place in the history of OL. He will leave a monstrous mark on Olympique Lyonnais. From now on, to find it, you will have to go to the Parc OL museum. He who hoped to make Lyon supporters proud when he arrived, he will have accomplished his mission. However, he will leave without the homage of the Lyon public that he will have deserved. Memphis is today an undisputed leader, a Lion King.
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