Goldenboys. Always wanted, rarely found. The latest in the cycle of goldenboys is Memphis Depay.
To find out more about the boy who was once given a choice between becoming a hip-hop artist and the possibility of winning the league with PSV, Harry Robinson spoke to Peter McVitie.
When did Depay start catching the eye of you and your colleagues in Holland?
There was always a lot of buzz surrounding Memphis when he was coming through the youth system at PSV. But when he first emerged in the senior team under Fred Rutten, the excitement began to pick up a bit. He scored two goals on his debut in the Dutch Cup against an amateur team and was slowly eased into the team. But there was a lot of uncertainty around him too. He was seen as too arrogant by some coaches, people said he thought he was already a footballing legend and also, he was too heavily involved in hip hop music (Dutch footballers have a bizarre obsession with hip hop music). It got to the point he was told to choose a career path - football or hip hop. He made the right choice.
He was in and out of the team over the next two seasons but when Phillip Cocu took over, he made him a key player in his first full season (2013-14) and from then on he has been the main man really.
PSV became the first team since 2010 to bump Ajax off their Champions perch by winning the Eredisvie. How much of an impact did Depay have aside from his 20 goals?
Depay was a pivotal player for PSV this term. Besides his goals and his three assists in the Eredivisie, he has been a crucial part of the system PSV are playing. The team is set up to get the best out of the three key players - Luuk de Jong, Jetro Willems and Memphis Depay.
At this point, De Jong has scored just one goal less than Depay in the league, while, despite being a left back, Willems is joint top of the Eredivisie assist charts. The understanding between these three has developed extremely well over the course of the season. De Jong is great at opening up space in key areas and this allows Depay to move inside and become more of a threat through the middle, while Willems operating more as a winger means his absence on the flank is well covered for.
The support of Georginio Wijnaldum around the box when PSV press forward like this is great too, so it gives PSV a complete attack and allows them to pose a massive threat against other teams. Depay is crucial to this because of his incredible speed, power and skill, but he also loves firing a shot towards goal from distance and close range. Possibly a bit too trigger happy at the moment, but hopefully he'll become wiser when it comes to picking his moments as he develops.
Also, he has this unbelievable desire to make the difference for PSV when they are not winning. It can sometimes bring out the worst in him - he wants to shoot even more and he gets frustrated increasingly. But that level of determination is something I find difficult to criticise.
Arjen Robben or Cristiano Ronaldo: Who would you compare Depay to?
In the 2013-14 season, Depay was a bit of a frustrating character because all he did was shoot regardless of what was going on around him. Driving down the left, he would cut inside and release a shot. At that time, I wrote that he was stuck in a bit of an identity crisis - he was trying to be like both Ronaldo and Robben. I think there's still a wee bit of truth to that, but I would say he is a bit more like Ronaldo.
He has that ridiculous work ethic like Ronaldo - that constant need to get better, to always improve. He is a fine athlete and a very admirable one too and you get the feeling he models himself on Cristiano a bit, which isn't a bad thing of course.
What gives Depay the ability to make it in the Premier League or one of the other top five leagues?
The whole combination of his skill, technique, speed, determination and belief that he can be the best. He calls himself a "Dreamchaser". That sounds a bit pretentious and full of it for a footballer but it's probably a good thing for Depay to associate himself with.
There are an abundance of distractions for the modern footballer, so many things that can take you away from your goal. If he has a constant reminder that he is going after his dream - to be the ultimate athlete and one of the world's best players, hopefully it will keep him on track.
Whether or not he can reach the very pinnacle of football as an individual is tough to predict and I don't think there's any point in bestowing that on someone so young, but team-wise, he can certainly play for top teams in the big leagues because he has so much to his game.
With Angel Di Maria, Adnan Januzaj, Ashley Young, Juan Mata and Antonio Valencia all on the wing for United, some suggest he might struggle for a first team place. Do you think he would secure that first team spot under van Gaal at United?
It's a difficult thing to judge because for the most part of the campaign, it has been hard to predict (certainly for me as an outsider) how Van Gaal will set United up in each game. I think the crucial thing with Depay would be down to him being given time to play and I think he would get that under Van Gaal at United. I think he would be preferred to Januzaj - I think he's a better player - so his main competition would be Di Maria, who is obviously fully developed and top class, and Young, who is having a good season.
With Di Maria and Depay, you have two very versatile but different players, so it comes down to what kind of style Van Gaal wants to play.
Also, Di Maria has played a more central role at United at times, while Depay has shown that he can also be a threat down the middle if called upon. It's unlikely that Van Gaal would make that a regular part of his set up, but the option is there.
Van Gaal knows enough about Depay and what his strengths are to get the best out of him and he is clearly a fan of his. I wouldn't say he will immediately walk into the team and usurp Di Maria as the main winger, but as a 21-year-old attacker, I think he'll be given time to show what he can do and, importantly, be allowed to develop properly at a very high level.
Liverpool, United, Bayern or PSG. Who do you think he'll go to and who do you think would be best for him?
I would not recommend any young players going to PSG. Depay needs a positive environment in which he can develop and get playing time. I see PSG as quite an unpredictable team with no set philosophy and don't think they would have a certain plan for him there.
I don't think Bayern would be a bad option for him. They obviously see him as someone who could replace Ribery or Robben (although I get the feeling the latter will still be playing even after Depay has retired - his ability just doesn't deteriorate) and I think it would be a good place for him to improve at.
I do think he would be better off at United though. Liverpool wouldn't be a terrible place for him, but at United he would be working with a coach who he already has a relationship with and in a system that I think would benefit him quite a bit. It would be a very good place for him to learn.
If you could say one thing about Depay to people who have never watched him, what would it be?
Enjoy him. As a player he really is a delight to watch with his tricks, speed, free kicks (he has a better scoring rate from free kicks than Messi and Ronaldo at the moment) and shots. I would also urge people to be patient, though. Listening to the talk from England about him, I have a feeling that people forget that he is only 21-years-old. He's a kid.
Whichever club he goes to, he isn't going to be the saviour of immediately. He's still developing, improving and learning. Watching him do that at PSV has been a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing him make the next step in what promises to be a great career, but I'm beginning to fear that people are hearing so much about him that they are expecting the impossible from a guy who has had just two seasons of first team football.