Back in 2015, Manchester United looked to have signed one of the most exciting young attacking talents in world football in the form of Memphis Depay.Fresh from sealing qualification for the Champions League once again and ahead of Louis van Gaal’s second second in charge of United, the Old Trafford club paid a reported £25 million to PSV Eindhoven for the winger’s services.Despite much promise and winning the FA Cup in his first season at United, Depay never ultimately held down a first team place consistently.And he made only a handful of appearances the following campaign under new boss Jose Mourinho, with Depay exiting Old Trafford in January 2017 to head to French side Lyon, with seven goals in 53 games for United.
Things went better for Depay at Lyon, where he ended up scoring 76 goals in 178 games as he found his feet in Ligue 1.Upon the expiry of his deal at Lyon, his form there helped earned him a switch to La Liga giants Barcelona on a two-year contract.The Netherlands international spent 18 months at the Camp Nou, scoring 14 goals in 42 games, before making the switch this January to Atletico Madrid, where he remains to this day.
With any transfer deal, although an overall figure might be reached, this is seldom paid in one instalment and is frequently broken up to be done in several payments, as well as some being in the form of performance-based add-ons.
And in the aftermath of Depay’s move to United in 2015, website Football Leaks published his contract and specifically the payments between the Old Trafford club and PSV.The overall amount United had to pay their Dutch counterparts was €34 million, which was split into an initial €17 million instalment, with two further payments of €8.5 million each following over the course of the next 12 months, to be paid at the end of January and July 2016.
Bonuses United were to pay PSV depended on how Depay fared there, which included €1.35 million if the Old Trafford side won the Premier League title, €325,000 if they reached the Champions League semi-finals, €650,000 if they made the final and €1.35 million if they won the competition.
None of these conditions were met, so at least United didn’t have to shell out anymore money on that particular transfer.If United sold Depay for a profit, they would then have to pay PSV either up to €5 million or 10% of the uplift, but the overall deal which took the winger to Lyon totalled £22 million, less than what the Dutch side received from their English counterparts for the player.
TDepay ultimately became one of many players over the past decade who failed to reach the heights anticipated of them at Old Trafford.