Former PSV Eindhoven striker Jeremain Lens has advised Memphis Depay he should not join one of Europe's elite sides this summer, for fear of suffering a fate similar to that of Ibrahim Afellay.
Afellay chose to leave PSV Eindhoven in the winter transfer window in 2011, being unable to resist the call from Barcelona.
He initially made a positive impression at the Camp Nou, but suffered an injury in September and slipped onto the fringes at the Camp Nou, failing to force his way back into the reckoning.
Afellay was shipped out to Schalke on loan, while he is now in the midst of another loan stint, with Olympiacos, and has failed to hit the heights expected when he left PSV to link up with Barcelona.
Depay has been linked with leaving PSV this coming summer, with Manchester United his chief suitors. However, Lens feels that the young winger must not make the mistake of joining a top notch club from the off, with an intermediate step best for the Netherlands international.
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Lens told Voetbal International: "Ibi is a great player, who was then just as Memphis is now ready for the next step in his career.
"Ibi chose Barcelona. That is of course an offer that one can hardly ignore, but he also knew that he would not get into the team.
"Such a thing is not good for your development, no matter how you look at it.
"The fact that he did not have luck with injuries is of course terrible. But first he chose a club where he would not be more than a 12th man.
"I think Memphis definitely has the potential to play for a top ten club in Europe, but I advise him first to take an intermediate step", Lens added.
Lens himself quit PSV in 2013 to link up with Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv.
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