
He owns a camouflage car that evokes comparisons with Mario Balotelli, an Eindhoven home that boasts a full-size boxing ring and emblazoned across his chest in sprawling italics is a tattoo that reads ‘Dream Chaser’.

Memphis Depay, Manchester United’s new £25million forward from PSV Eindhoven and an individual who is already becoming one of the more colourful characters in the English game.

At Old Trafford, his first significant act was to request the iconic No 7 shirt. It is a showman’s number for a showbiz individual.

Summer signing Memphis Depay scored twice for Manchester United against Club Bruges in the Champions League on Tuesday night

The Dutch winger, 21, owns a camouflage car that evokes comparisons with enigmatic Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli

Before moving to Manchester, Depay lived in Eindhoven - in a home that boasts a full-size boxing ring

Depay, pictured with a black eye (left) and posing at a photo shoot (right) has a tattoo on his chest that reads 'Dream Chaser'

Memphis looked pleased with himself as he posted a summer selfie with Karrueche Tran, singer Chris Brown's ex, during a holiday in Miami

He followed that up with a talismanic performance in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Two goals, should have had a hat-trick and set up a crucial third in the play-off with Club Bruges.

Hiding in the shadows is not how Depay’s time in Manchester will be defined.

He arrived at Manchester Airport kitted out in £10,000 worth of Louis Vuitton accessories and has also starred in a collaboration with Dutch rap group Rotterdam Airlines. The song is called ‘Flexin’ and he raps along in the back of the car as he sits merrily between two glamorous ladies.

In the summer, after his move was confirmed, he posted a picture on Instagram of him cosying up to Karrueche Tran, the ex-girlfriend of singer Chris Brown, while holidaying in Miami.

On one Dutch chat show, he revealed a tattoo on the inside of his lip that read ‘succesvol’ [successful], although it was not permanent. Still, you get the idea.

Like previous United No 7s Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, Depay is a marketing man’s dream and a set-piece specialist - the seven free-kicks he scored for PSV last season was more than any other player in Europe.

Such confidence, of course, can be interpreted in different ways.

‘I saw that Depay played for the Dutch Under 19 side,’ Southampton manager Ronald Koeman once said. ‘He was walking around like he has won 10 European Cups. What is it all about?’

His first significant act at Old Trafford was to request the iconic No 7 shirt and Depay scored two fine goals against Club Bruges

He arrived at Manchester Airport kitted out in £10,000 worth of Louis Vuitton accessories and is certainly a colourful character

Depay also starred in a collaboration with Dutch rap group Rotterdam Airlines as he rapped in the back of the car for the song 'Flexin'

Depay has a Chow Chow dog called Simba and was more than happy to take time out for photo shoots during his time in Eindhoven

The 21-year-old poses for a picture with Everton striker Romelu Lukaku during his summer holidays ahead of his Premier League bow

Model Tran was in Miami at the same time as Depay shortly after his move from PSV to Old Trafford was confirmed

Tran was pictured with Memphis in Miami in June this year just after his last game of the season - a 2-0 win for Holland over Latvia

Depay also caught up with Juventus star Paul Pogba on his travels and he has aspirations to be the best player in the world

On one Dutch chat show, he revealed a tattoo on the inside of his lip that read ‘succesvol’ [successful], although it was not permanent

Koeman is not alone in that perception but first impressions can be deceiving with Depay, who many in Holland believe to be the country’s greatest talent since Arjen Robben.

Having spent a week in Rotterdam and Eindhoven - where Sportsmail met a number of coaches, professionals and friends of the player - it seems that behind the super-cars, tattoos and rap music lies a truly uplifting tale of a young footballer who has overcome a traumatic upbringing to become one of the most gifted talents of his generation.

Depay’s story begins in the Dutch town of Moordrecht, around 20km outside of Rotterdam. He is the son of a Dutch mother, Cora, and a Ghanaian father, Dennis, who walked out on his child when he was only four years old.

Depay has barely heard from his father since and this is why he uses his first name Memphis on the back of his shirt.

He began playing football for local side VV Moordrecht, where he was spotted by Sparta Rotterdam. At Sparta, they soon realised that they would have to spend an inordinate amount of time on young Memphis.

He arrived into the U9 age group and his coaches Romeo Wouden and Cock van Dijk reflect, albeit affectionately, on a child that could be ‘very difficult’.

This was the period where his mother met a new man and they moved in with him and his own children. It was there where Memphis endured his most upsetting period at the hands of his new extended family.

Depay celebrates after scoring for Holland at the UEFA Under 17 Championships against rivals Germany in the final

He has kept a similar celebration throughout his career and also saluted after his goals for United at Old Trafford on Tuesday

Depay (back left) began playing for local side VV Moordrecht and was then spotted by Sparta Rotterdam

Depay scored a fine solo goal at a youth tournament at the age of just seven and his potential was evident early on

Depay (left wearing a hat as a child, and right with Sparta Rotterdam) uses Memphis on the back of his shirt as he barely knows his father

It was not an unfamiliar sight for the child to arrive into training with tears in his eyes and he could often appear distant from the group. By consensus, it was a ‘truly terrible’ time for him.

Certain details are too sensitive to reveal in these pages but Memphis was sufficiently affected for PSV to place life coach Joost Leenders with the player almost immediately after he was signed to the club at the age of 12. He is now 21 and that professional relationship ended only 18 months ago.

The home life improved when they moved in with maternal grandparents Kees and Jans but Memphis’ issues endured.

At Sparta, coach Wouden quickly identified Memphis as a fragile personality in need of a role model. ‘I tried to give him discipline,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘In the beginning, we clashed. He wanted to show me that he would do whatever he liked. I showed him: “You’re not gonna do that, my little friend.”

‘He never said anything against me. He did not dare but he was difficult. If he was naughty, I would say ‘Hey, Memphis...what’s going on?” He would say, “I’m angry….”. I would say “OK, let’s talk”.

‘Memphis was by himself a lot. He lived in Moordrecht and most of the players were from Rotterdam. He was popular on the Saturday when he scored three goals but in the dressing room and at training, not so much.

‘Other kids’ parents would say “He’s such trouble, why do you bother with this Memphis kid?” but I believed in him.’ ‘On the pitch, this guy was “Wow”. All he wanted to do was score goals. In German, they say ‘einzelganger’ - a lone wolf. He didn’t see anything else - just the ball and the goal. He didn’t pass because he knew he could score the goal.

‘I tried to teach him that scoring three goals every week is not the most important; maybe it’s nice to give your friend the ball and make an assist. So for a while, I didn’t let him take the corners and free-kicks. It was to help him learn to play with others.’

On one occasion, Wouden even paid for Memphis to go on holiday to Turkey with his own wife and their son, Jazzley.

‘His behaviour was not normal. When I disciplined him, he could turn his face away from me and I knew that day I would not reach him again. Normally, you discipline and move on but he was hurt, sad, angry and took it personally. The best punishment I could give Memphis was to say “You can’t touch the ball today.” Then he would have to stand on the side and look at everyone else playing and he wouldn’t do it again.

‘I was driving home one night after a really difficult session and thought ‘Memphis, Memphis, Memphis, what more can I do for you?”. Then I calmed down and felt that I could not let this boy go. He was not only a player for us. I was protecting him. What could he have done without football?’

Sparta coach Romeo Wouden paid for Memphis (r) to go on holiday with his own wife and son after identifying him as a fragile personality

Memphis (middle row, second left) is pictured with his fellow Sparta Rotterdam youth team-mates as a youngster

The winger (bottom row, second right) scored 14 goals in four games at one tournament and Ajax coaches were desperate to sign him

In one tournament with Ajax and Barcelona, he scored 14 goals in four games and Ajax coaches begged Wouden to name his price for him. They and Feyernoord made offers but Sparta were keen for Memphis to avoid the bright lights of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, advising him to sign for PSV aged 12.

The move to Eindhoven meant leaving his mother Cora behind. Memphis moved in with a guest family and attended the Kempenhorst College. ‘In training, he was perfect,’ says Mart van Duren, Memphis’ youth coach at PSV. ‘He has to trust you. In Holland, we say ‘small heart, big mouth’. It means you act tough on the outside, but deep down, you are sensitive.

‘But footballers think they are the king at school and Memphis especially. He had his phone out in class and a big mouth against the teachers. In his mind, he said I don’t need school. We told him: “You don’t have to be the best at school but you have to behave.”

PSV identified his need for support and employed life coach Leenders. The club have over 150 players in their academy and only a handful will work with Leenders. Memphis was initially withdrawn and wanted nothing to do with him. Slowly but surely, however, they developed an unbreakable bond.

One associate explains: ‘The secret for Joost? He did not judge Memphis. He listened and advised but he never told him what to do. He became like his father and they are still very close.’

Memphis saw Leenders at least once a week for many of his adolescent years - sometimes significantly more - before it was reduced to once every three weeks when he turned 18.

Just as at Sparta Rotterdam, there were times Memphis pushed PSV towards breaking point. He was badly affected by the death of his grandfather when he was 15. His grandmother admits Memphis was left ‘broken’.

Sparta were keen for Memphis to avoid the bright lights of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, advising him to sign for PSV aged 12

PSV employed a life coach, Joost Leenders, to help Memphis as the Eredivisie club identified his need for support

Depay battles for the ball with young England and Chelsea midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah during the UEFA U17 Championship semi-final

Depay (left) celebrates with his Dutch team-mates after beating the Young Lions in Novi Sad, Serbia in May 2011

Memphis marked his passing with a tattoo dedicated to his grandfather on his lower arm: ‘You are far away, you live on in our hearts. I love you.’ He wrote the same words on a photograph that he placed inside the coffin.

At that time, his behaviour became more erratic. ‘I and a couple of others fought for him to be kept on a few times at PSV,’ Van Duren admits. ‘There were trainers who saw him as not so talented on the field but also as a person he was difficult. Thankfully we persevered.’

Depay used heartbreak as motivation and he has matured to the extent that he now talks to Leenders as a friend, rather than as a client and he is said to have ‘no prevailing psychological issues.’

‘He is not arrogant,’ Van Duren insists. ‘It is confidence. When you have a relationship with him, you access that small heart but like I say, he can have a big mouth. He recently bought his mother a car and then he told the world on Facebook! That is Memphis, a showman, an exhibitionist. But he’s young. In a couple of years, he will be OK.’

To borrow the beloved parlance of his new manager Van Gaal, it is a ‘process’. ‘I promise you, he is incredibly determined,’ Van Duren says.

‘He is in the gym every day, he is physically so strong. He has the Ronaldo model, where the quality is really improved by strength and power. When you blend the physical and the technical, you can be really special.

‘When he first went to the first-team here, I remember he came back here to the academy straight after training. He was asking to do extra technical work. We had a lot of training sessions together on his free-kicks! I tried to encourage him to curl his free-kicks and pick his spot. He always wants to whack it hard, though. From 30m, he is unbelievable. He loved watching Ronaldo and asked me to train him for that technique. On top of that, we worked apart from the group on his individual technical skills, movement and how to beat a man one-on-one. That was all extra, all his own idea.’

Mart van Duren, Memphis’ youth coach at PSV, says the winger is physically so strong and he has the 'Ronaldo model'

Depay poses next to a quad bike during a 2013 shoot in Holland as he made his name in his home country on and off the field

Depay poses for a picture on his Instagram with a mini segway (left) and with a golden boot (right) after top scoring in Holland last season

It has paid off. Fred Rutten promoted Memphis to the PSV first-team as a 16-year-old and under Dick Advocaat and Phillip Cocu, he has made giant strides. He emerged as a leader in a young PSV team and often went to coach Marc van Bommel for advice, just as he picks Ruud van Nistelrooy’s brains when he links up with Holland.

He was part of Van Gaal’s Dutch squad at the World Cup in Brazil and he followed that up by scoring 22 goals for PSV last season. In the spring, he held talks with PSG and Liverpool - despite Brendan Rodgers’ denials, the Anfield club’s chief executive Ian Ayre even mentioned his name to major sponsors Standard Chartered in a briefing in April - but United were always in control of the situation with Van Gaal in charge.

Albert Stuivenberg, Van Gaal’s assistant at United, was also Memphis’ coach in the Under-17 age group of the national team. At PSV, the highest earner will receive no more than €1m euros per year. It is estimated that his annual income will be five times higher at Old Trafford as he earns around £90,000-per-week.

Van Gaal rates him as ‘the greatest talent of his age’ and he is expected to eventually fill the number 10 position that PSV coaches believe will ultimately prove his most effective, even if he has played more regularly as a left-winger previously.

‘Memphis can be a truly great player in two years’ time,’ Van Duren says, ‘I think he is the best young talent in Holland. The challenge is that you don’t know how he will cope in his mind, in his head, with the pressure.

‘I had a trainer in my day who said: “You need to be quickly married and quickly having children!” You need to be settled. He wants to win prizes for the team and be the best, individually. He can do that at United.’

Louis van Gaal has great confidence in Depay and the duo struck up a bond with Holland at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil

Depay made the £25million move to United this summer and is tipped for big things at Old Trafford