‘I told Man Utd star not to be fancy – he drove Rolls Royce and wore cowboy hat’

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    Manchester United flop Memphis Depay once ignored Wayne Rooney's advice by turning up to a reserve game in a swanky Rolls-Royce and a cowboy hat.

    The Dutch forward endured a torrid year-and-a-half spell at Old Trafford, scoring just seven goals in 53 games before being shipped off to Lyon, but that didn't stop him from acting like the dog's bollocks.

    After blaming Depay for United's defeat to Stoke in December 2015, when his errant back-pass allowed Bojan Krkic to nip in and net the winner, manager Louis van Gaal sent his compatriot to the naughty step by busting him down to the reserves for a few days.

    Rooney warned his team-mate not to act too flashy, as it wouldn't be a good look for the senior players, but materialistic Memphis didn't listen.

    READ MORE: Man Utd flop Memphis Depay embarrassed as Thierry Henry 'doesn't know him'

    "I said, 'Just don't come in with your fancy stuff’," Rooney explained to The Athletic. "He turned up for the reserve game in his Rolls-Royce, wearing a leather jacket and a cowboy hat."

    Depay, who joined the Red Devils from PSV for £25m, struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premier League and fell completely out of favour once Jose Mourinho replaced Van Gaal in the United hotseat in 2016.

    In January 2017 he was sold to Lyon for around £17m, having made just four appearances in the league all season, and his fortunes quickly began to turn.

    Should Depay have been given more of a chance at Man Utd? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

    He scored 76 goals in 178 matches for the Ligue 1 giants before Barcelona, who were managed by Dutchman Ronald Koeman at the time, came calling in 2021.

    Depay's one and only full season in Catalonia was a decent one, with the player netting 12 goals in 28 La Liga games, but he was sold to Atletico Madrid in January 2023 after missing a large chunk of the campaign through injury – and after falling down the pecking order following the arrivals of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.

    His fitness problems initially persisted at the Wanda Metropolitano, but Depay has made a flying start to the new season by netting in Atletico's opening day win over Granada.

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