Player who cost Man United £25m set to be released ahead of summer transfer window
Former Manchester United star Memphis Depay is set to be released by La Liga club Atletico Madrid, just 18 months after joining Diego Simeone's side from Barcelona.
The Dutchman is one of many players who are set to be shunned in a big clearout this summer, with the automatic extension on his current contract now set to be voided after it had originally been agreed he'd stay on until 2025.
Depay, who will leave as a free agent, will now no longer grant Barcelona any of the 50% sell-on clause on the 30-year-old that had been put into the deal made between the two sides after failing to properly settle into his new team through a handful of injuries that have left him limited to just over 1,200 minutes.
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Having netted just nine goals in 31 matches in all competitions this campaign, it marks the second time Depay has been cast off after just 18 months - the same amount of time he spent at Manchester United following his £25 million move under Louis Van Gaal back in the summer of 2015.
His four-year deal at Old Trafford was reported to have been 'forced' through due to interest from Paris Saint-Germain, and he was handed the club's iconic number 7 shirt following the departure of Angel Di Maria in the same summer. Despite a decent start to life in Manchester, the start struggled to adapt to the speed of English football leading to him being consistently dropped for matches.
Depay then played just 20 minutes of Premier League football during the 2016/17 season, making only one start through the entire campaign in the League Cup with his final game coming in November before his move to Olympique Lyon for a fee of £17m in January 2017.
Speaking in 2021 on the star, former Red Devils captain Rio Ferdinand highlighted Depay's carefree attitude as something that takes a lot of getting used to in the football world, saying: "I think he's a maverick. He's a new-age type of personality who embraces everything of the lifestyle of a football player and beyond, and some people who are old school don't like that and it's taken time for someone even like me to adapt to that."
The star has previously hinted at a return to Old Trafford, having reportedly 'pushed' for talks between the two parties amid holding interest at returning to the Premier League. With Erik ten Hag's future in doubt though, it's unclear whether the Dutchman or United's next manager would see Depay as a potential target given his lack of gametime throughout the season.