Memphis Depay: ‘Everything is very serious in Europe, I’m having fun in Brazil’

Speaking in a recent interview with France Football former Manchester United, Lyon, and Barcelona attacker Memphis Depay (31) spoke about his adaption to Brazilian football and his first season with Corinthians ahead of his second campaign with the Sao Paulo-based giants. After joining the club in September 2024, Depay has highlighted the big cultural differences between Brazil and European football.

“The world is bigger than just Europe,” said the former Olympique Lyonnais striker, who reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with Les Gones back in 2020. “In Europe, there is sometimes a tendency to play too much with the head. There are more and more rules, there are teams that sometimes play defensively, teams that think a lot. Sometimes it kills the game. Here, we have fun and experience pure emotions with real football.”

“There are a lot of very strong, very fast players. We play in very high temperatures,” Depay said about other players in the Brazilian league. “Tactically, they can improve, that’s the only thing. But otherwise, it’s very physical. For ninety minutes, you have space and it never stops. It’s pure football. It goes from one side to the other. Sometimes it slows down, then it speeds up again, it’s complicated and even difficult to define. It’s completely different from what we see in Europe.”

After joining halfway through Corinthians’ previous season, Depay made 13 appearances for his new club and scored eight goals in the process as the Timão went on to lift the Campeonato Paulista two weeks ago against arch-rivals Palmeiras.

GFFN | George Boxall