If Memphis Stays He Will Play – Mourinho

If Memphis Stays He Will Play – Mourinho

So the enigma that Memphis has become is still a big talking point at Manchester United. The Dutch winger who joined United from PSV Eindhoven for a £25 million fee on a four-year contract to much fanfare was expected to be a big success under then manager – compatriot – Louis van Gaal. Memphis although scoring a few very good goals during the early games he played, really has had a hard time adjusting to the rigours of the Premier League often complaining of the heavy workload in English football. Memphis ended up finishing last season very much lower on the pecking order than he started. In fact, veteran Ashley Young was often preferred to Memphis by van Gaal.

Memphis

When Jose Mourinho took over at United many including the player himself thought that it might mean a change in fortunes for the young winger but that sadly has not been the case. The Dutchman has come out in public stating that he wants to move on from Old Trafford as he has only started 1 game so far for the club and that was way back in September when he started the 3-1 EFL Cup tie against Northampton Town but even then he was substituted early in the second half. Other than the one start Memphis has made only 8 other appearances (just 4 in the Premier League) for the first team but 5 of those have only been what you could call “time-wasting” moves as he has come in during the last 10 minutes of those games. The youngster has yet to score for United this campaign either which cannot be helping his prospects of playing or his chances of another club making a big money move for him.


Everton had been connected with making a move for Memphis with Ronald Koeman making it public that he is a fan of the player and other clubs have been linked with him but nothing close to the offer needed to buy him has been received. Manager Jose Mourinho has said that Memphis will play some games if he stays at United but he will not play until his future is resolved as an injury would of course negate such a possible move. Speaking to Fox Sports as ESPNFC report Jose Mourinho had this to say about Memphis’ prospects:

“I was informed by the club that there is a chance Memphis could leave. From a human point of view, I cannot stop him from leaving when he is not playing under me.

“If he is staying, I would be more than happy because he is a fantastic guy and a very good player. I feel so sorry that I am not giving him opportunities to play. A player of his age needs to be playing matches.

“If he stays with me, for sure, he will play some games because we have so many matches. If he leaves, we wish him all the best for the future because he is a fantastic kid.”

“We have a lot of players in Memphis’ position. It is the one position where we are overbooked really.

“We have a lot of players there. So it is not easy for any one of them to play.”

So we can only hope that one way or another Memphis gets the chance to shine again and he takes it – hopefully in a United shirt as it would be such a shame to see such a genuine talent leave the club only to become a star in the colours of another team. Some players like Ryan Giggs have questioned his work ethic and that could well be a factor but we hope to see the young Dutchman turn the corner and start to deliver on his undoubted promise as it is a real shame to see a youngster lose his way the way Memphis has.