Memphis Depay's International Career Over, Says Dutch Pundit
For Valentijn Driessen, there is no suspense left in the Memphis Depay story with the Netherlands. In his eyes, the curtain has already fallen.
The De Telegraaf head of football believes the 32-year-old forward has kicked his final ball in Oranje colours, his body no longer able to keep pace with the demands of international football.
“He’ll have to play a lot first,” Driessen says. “And when he plays three, four or five matches in a row, he often gets injured. So that’s the problem with Memphis. And he’s not the youngest any more.”
That has become the recurring theme of Depay’s late career: brief comebacks, sharp flashes of quality, then another setback. For Driessen, the pattern is now too familiar to ignore.
On Depay’s chances of a return, he is blunt. “I think it’s going to be very difficult for him. Memphis has played, I think, one and a half or two matches. So I understand why he’s not in the squad. Let him get fully fit at Corinthians first.”
The move to Corinthians was meant to reset his club career, to give him rhythm and responsibility again. But without sustained minutes, the national team door has started to close. In Driessen’s view, it already has.
“But his physical condition is holding him back, of course,” he adds. “Otherwise, he might still have been included or given a chance by Xavi. But I think we’ve seen Memphis play his last international.”
The national-team coach, Xavi, has taken a softer public line. He has left Depay out of this international period, preferring other forwards on current form, but he refuses to frame it as a definitive goodbye.
“The door will always be open to him, especially for players like him, because he has a lot of quality and talent, and can score a lot of goals and make the difference,” Xavi insists.
At Monday’s press conference, he reduced the decision to something cold and simple: form. “We have decided that the rest of the squad are in better form.”
It is a harsh reality for a player who, for a long stretch, carried the Netherlands’ attack almost single-handedly. Depay has made 112 appearances for his country, a heavyweight number that places him among the most experienced internationals of his generation.
His last outing now feels distant. It came at the previous World Cup, when he featured for just a quarter of an hour in a 1-3 group-stage win against Tunisia. A brief cameo that, in hindsight, may stand as his final act in Oranje.
Driessen is convinced that was the end. Xavi says the door remains open. Memphis Depay’s body, more than anyone’s opinion, will decide which of them is right.
