Ex-Man Utd flop told to 'grow up' after deleting controversial tweet and launching bizarre rant at journalist

A former Manchester United flop has been told to 'grow up' after he deleted a controversial social media post and aimed a bizarre rant at a journalist.

The advent of social media has given footballers a new and valuable tool for interacting with their fans across the world in a way that simply wasn't possible before.

While many players employ social media teams to run their accounts and post generic football content, some choose to do their own thing.

Memphis Depay is one of them, and it's fair to say he is used to causing controversy on social media.

On Sunday, Depay attended the the men's final of the Madrid Open tennis tournament, with Andrey Rublev beating Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Depay - who scored just seven goals for Man United between 2015 and 2017 - wasn't really paying attention though.

"But someone distracted me from the game... to be honest," Memphis posted on X, alongside a zoomed in photo of a courtside ball girl.

"Someone sent me here IGGGGG [Instagram]," he bragged, before adding, "Let's have dinner on the moon."

Journalist Zach Lowy brought attention to Depay's intrusive post, highlighting reports earlier in the day that Atletico Madrid are looking to offload the striker this summer despite there being a year remaining on his contract.

Depay didn't take kindly to this, and replied directly to the journalist's post.

"My day was fabulous zachi," the 30-year-old replied.

"Watched the final and got her number in my phone too. That so called ball girl is real a model and is in her 20’s..

damn let a single men shoot he’s shot, smh. y’all disgusted me Fr Fr.

"Go factcheck your s*** before you spreading these narratives… You give weak personality vibes my guy.

"We good on @FabrizioRomano. Find something else..

"As far as my football future, I’m not concerned.. we in the lab!"

It's safe to say that many fans found Depay's rap-like response strange at best and embarrassing at worst.

"You're a grown man bro", "You're so cringe", and "You are 32 years old mate," were among the top responses, while other fan told Depay to "Grow up."

One X user went on the offensive, writing: "Could have sat this one out like you do in your teams Memphis. The 'shooting' you should be doing is on the training ground maybe you become a consistent player."

Other fans begged the Dutch international to focus on his football at Atletico, with Diego Simeone's side not yet assured of a top four finish and a place in next season's Champions League.

Depay has made 28 appearances in all competitions for Atleti this term, scoring nine goals and providing two assists.