Memphis Depay hit out at vile trolls who mocked the forward’s troubled history with his father.
The former Manchester United winger, who is now thriving with Lyon in Ligue 1, does not speak to family members on his father’s side.
During the Rhone-Loire derby on Sunday against St Etienne, a banner was unfurled in the crowd which read: “Memphis – 5 million followers but no dad”.
The insult is in reference to the 24-year-old’s extensive Instagram following and lack of communication with his father.
In a 2013 interview with Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, the former PSV Eindhoven winger hinted at an abusive past with his father.
Memphis was born to a Dutch mother and a Ghanaian father on the outskirts of Rotterdam.
The neighbourhood was rife with crime and the occasional riot on New Year’s Eve. When he was four, his father left them. His mother took up and moved in with another man, who already had 15 children. Memphis was the 16th and refuses to dwell on his troubled childhood.
“What exactly happened at home I won’t be telling you,” Memphis said once. “I don’t want people feeling sorry for me.”
In a TV interview he gave away a little more. “In that time, I just had to survive, I just had to fight my way through it,” he said. “I could speak of things like physical abuse, but I don’t feel like it.”
After seeing the banner on social media, Memphis hit back at his critics in his best way possible via Twitter.
He wrote: “I have nothing against the people who did this. I know they low key love me!
“I also know they mad they just mad they don’t have 1 player with the same quality like me.
“It doesn’t bother me 1 second, I just wanted to say some things about it. 0 points against us this season i can imagine what that feels like. Should I continue…?
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, I leave it by that! God bless everybody! Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only love can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, love can do that.”
Former Celtic forward Moussa Dembele fired a last-minute winner to seal a 2-1 win for Lyon as they came from behind to beat St Etienne.
One-time Liverpool target Nabil Fekir equalised from the penalty spot after Romain Hamouma’s powerful 21st-minute header gave Les Verts the upper hand at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.