Former Manchester United winger Memphis Depay has been handed a four-month suspended sentence for “dangerous driving” after being stopped by police in Monaco during a night out last summer.
The Theatre of Nightmares
Memphis joined the Red Devils in 2015 from PSV Eindhoven for £25 million after lighting up the Eredivisie as a flying winger.
However, the Dutch international never settled at Old Trafford, scoring only two goals across 33 appearances for United and struggling to adapt to the pace of English football.
After a disappointing eighteen months in Manchester, Memphis was then sold to Lyon for a fee worth in the region of £16 million.
The 30-year-old would go on to play for Liga giants Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, before eventually agreeing an unusual switch to Brazil to join Corinthians last summer, where the forward now earns a reported £170,000 a week.
Legal Troubles
However, a month prior to this move to the Brazilian side was confirmed, Memphis was stopped by police in his Rolls-Royce after attending a night club in Monaco.
The Dutchman was “stopped by officers and breathalysed, with his blood alcohol level found to be 1.01 per millilitre – above the legal limit in Monaco, which is lower than in England and Wales, but the same as Scotland.”
As a result, Memphis received a “four-month suspended sentence after admitting an offence officially classified as ‘dangerous driving’” during a hearing this week.
He has been banned from driving for two years and ordered to pay a £7,5000 fine.
And while the 30-year-old did not attend the hearing himself, he addressed the situation in a post on Instagram.
“Last summer during my holidays in Monaco I made a mistake and decided to drive home after having some drinks in a restaurant.
“I should’ve got in a taxi instead but I didn’t so I would like to apologise and want to take full responsibility for my action. 2024 was a year of lessons and I will definitely learn from this one. 2025 we will do better. Memphis.”
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
