Memphis Depay sends message to Jose Mourinho over Manchester United future

Manchester United winger Memphis Depay is unwilling to throw in the towel at Old Trafford, despite being marginalised by Jose Mourinho this season. The 22-year-old has made just one competitive start for the club this season since the appointment of the Portuguese coach and appears destined for another campaign on the sidelines.

Depay moved to the Premier League in the summer of 2015, and made 46 appearances under international compatriot Louis van Gaal though was unable to recapture his very best form. The emergence of Marcus Rashford has seen the former PSV Eindhoven youngster spiral down the pecking order and he is now regarded as a peripheral player at the club.

His reputation however remains good with his country and Depay repaid Danny Blind's faith by coming off the bench to score twice to help the Dutch beat Luxembourg in their World Cup qualifier. Depay hopes the performance will have caught the eye of United boss Mourinho, who on Sunday was pre-occupied with watching the Barclays ATP World Tour finals tennis tournament at The O2 Arena in London.

"I'm going to fight my utmost to make sure I can get back in contention," Depay told Dutch television, according to The Daily Telegraph. "I'm really happy I succeeded. I proved I can still take a free kick. I knew I still had it in me and I really wanted to take it. It was great to see the ball go in. I'm going back to United with a good feeling, because I have got minutes here and we won. That is the most important thing."

The comments regarding his United future follow suggestions from Everton boss Ronald Koeman that he would be interested in loaning Depay in the January transfer window. The Liverpool Echo reported last week that the Toffees and Roma were among the clubs weighing up a potential deal, and the former European Cup winner would be open to such a deal.

Addressing his interest in Depay while speaking on Fox Sports programme De Tafel van Kees, the Goodison Park manager said: "I would like to have him. I think he is an interesting player. He has great individual qualities. He just needs to play games." Speculation regarding Everton potentially making a move to Depay then swelled after the club reported news of the winger's double at the Josy-Barthel Stadium via their official Twitter account.