Netherlands and Lyon star Memphis Depay has shed light on his upbringing and career in a new autobiography.

The talented winger partnered with Simon Zwartkuis to release "Heart of a Lion" recently.

In the book, Depay speaks about his high profile failure at Manchester United, his issues with Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, and other interesting topics. He also speaks at length about his childhood, early career and his infamous social media posts.

Zwartkuis, who co-wrote the book, spoke exclusively to Tribalfootball about why Depay wanted to put out the book so early in his career.

The author said: "He wanted to share his story to inspire people. Especially youngsters, who grow up in difficult situations.

"Memphis wants to show them that no matter how tough your childhood can be, like it was for him, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

"And he wants to encourage people to follow your own dreams and be the person you want to be, no matter what other people think or say about you."

There were plenty of crazy stories about Memphis from his childhood, which Zwartkuis details in his interview.

He goes on to say about Depay: "His childhood was heavy stuff. He was three years old when his father left his mother and him and five years later his mother married again.

"In his new family Memphis was severely beaten up and even threatened with knifes. At a certain point at school he hid under his table for a month, terrified as he was to go back home again.

"That period had a huge impact on him. He didn't trust people anymore, decided that he had to do it on his own in life and became very aggressive in the years after. Which caused a lot of troubles at school, in his daily life and at his football clubs.

"When he was twelve years old PSV introduced him to a mental coach, Joost Leenders, who worked for years with Memphis to get him back on track. The mother of Memphis and Leenders and Memphis himself are very open about this troubling period in his life, which makes it a very personal, raw and honest book."

Despite being in the spotlight ever since his failed move to United several years ago, Depay may be one of the most misunderstood footballers around. Zwartkuis believes many fans do not know the true Memphis.

When asked what fans should know about Depay, he said: "That there is much more than the guy everybody can see on his social media.

"That's also who he is, but only one part of him. The book explains who Memphis really is, how is background impacted his personality and his fight to become the person and player he is today. And how is faith in God played an important role in that process.

"Also he tells in the book a lot about his ambitions in his life besides football: in music, fashion and the social projects in his fatherland Ghana. And about his lifestyle, his love life and about his brother, who is in prison.

"Every chapter of the book starts with one of his tattoos. Because his tattoos are telling the story of his life."