Man United 'paid a lot' for Depay – Koeman
Memphis Depay reflects on recent success and says he’s ‘more than ready’ for the Premier League following his move to Manchester United.
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has suggested Manchester United may have overspent on Memphis Depay and said the Netherlands international “won’t play every game.”
Koeman said he tried to bring Depay to Southampton following his arrival at the Premier League club last summer, but he questioned the reported £25 million fee United paid to take the 21-year-old from PSV Eindhoven to Old Trafford.
“I think they paid a lot of money,” he said in quotes appearing in the Sunday Mirror. “Because it is United, where they already spent £200m on players like Angel Di Maria, such a big figure is put in perspective.
“He [Depay] won’t play every game. I have learnt, while I am here in England, that Dutch players can’t make the jump to the top of the Premier League easily. And young players can’t play 38 games anyway.
“If you pay millions for Di Maria, who hardly plays, if you pay a fortune in wages and rent fee for [on-loan] Radamel Falcao, who never plays, then £25m is not a lot of money for them.”
Nonetheless, Koeman did try to sign Depay last year and indicated that he would have been keen to sign him this summer had United not made their move.
“My brother Erwin has the same agent, so we tried to bring him to Southampton, but he wanted to stay for one more year at PSV,” he said.
“When United went in for him, we knew at Saints that we had no chance. When they come, we have no chance.”
Koeman, who has been in charge of clubs including Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord in his native Netherlands, was critical of young Dutch and English players.
“I see another lack of quality with the Dutch kids that I have also noticed with other young stars in the Premier League,” Koeman added. “They don’t communicate. They behave like individuals. Stuck to their smartphones.”
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