Louis van Gaal has admitted he expected more of Memphis Depay when signing the Dutchman from PSV Eindhoven in the summer for £25m.

The 21-year-old started 12 of United’s opening 13 games but has not been in the XI for a Premier League match since the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal on 4 October.

Depay may be recalled to lead the line for Saturday’s trip to Watford because Van Gaal is facing a selection crisis. His options in attack are limited due to Wayne Rooney’s illness and injuries to Anthony Martial and Marouane Fellaini.

Van Gaal, asked if he had hoped for more from Depay, said: “Of course, because otherwise he was still in the team. Otherwise I don’t look for another solution and I look for another solution in my team and I have kept Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira for example for that option and now he has to fight back and he does it, so I am satisfied.”

Van Gaal said Depay was “always looking good in training” and that inconsistency was to be expected from players of that age. “Sometimes they are out of the selection because their competitor is in that moment in a better shape but that doesn’t mean that I have a quarrel with the player,” the manager said.

David Beckham, one of Depay’s famous predecessors in the No7 shirt, stated recently the number should not be a burden. Van Gaal does not believe it is to the forward. “I don’t think. I do think the media is making that of it,” he said. “But I am not superstitious and he is certainly not superstitious.”

Van Gaal admitted he had a “big problem” for the Watford game. Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw are also unavailable because of illness and injury, and Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin are doubts after their involvement in the France versus Germany game that was the subject of terrorist attacks in Paris.

The manager said: “Rooney came back ill after the break. I have only seen him once, the day after the internationals, and then he was at home. I don’t think he can play.” Van Gaal suggested Martial may be fit for Wednesday’s Champions League game with PSV Eindhoven. “It’s not so long [for him]. It’s a matter of time. Maybe he could have played tomorrow.

“[James] Wilson can play but he cannot play a whole match because he doesn’t have the rhythm of the game. Everybody knows Michael Carrick and Anthony Martial are injured, but also injured is Fellaini. That’s a surprise because I thought he was recovered after the international break, but still he is injured. And that’s a big blow because Rooney is ill, so we have a big problem, I think.”

Of Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin Van Gaal said: “It is also a question if the players wants to play or not to play but I cannot say anything about that. That’s my total human being principle that I always look in the eyes and I communicate with players.

“[James] Wilson can play but he cannot play a whole match because he doesn’t have the rhythm of the game. Everybody knows Michael Carrick and Anthony Martial are injured, but also injured is Fellaini. That’s a surprise because I thought he was recovered after the international break, but still he is injured. And that’s a big blow because Rooney is ill, so we have a big problem, I think.”

Van Gaal suggested Adnan Januzaj’s season’s loan to Borussia Dortmund may not have been the best choice from the Belgian because he is not getting regular starts. “All the players there are also of a certain level and I said in advance that’s a big risk for you because you have to compete with other players of a higher level and that is not so easy, it’s the same thing as in Manchester United,” said the Dutchman. “He has to compete with higher level players and I want him to play all the matches and that is why I want to play him also in the Premier League but he chose for Borussia Dortmund.

“We have to wait and see [if the right move] because now he doesn’t play but he has the talent to play. I am certain he has the talent to play but he has to learn a lot of things. “Talent is important but so is the character to develop your talent. And he can learn that.”

Van Gaal said he did not believe United had the option to recall Januzaj early.