The Brazilian was fortunate to avoid a red card in the derby, and isn’t doing nearly enough to justify his place in in the squad
Manchester United have made a whole host of poor recruitment calls in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, especially when it comes to filling wide attacking berths. The likes of Angel Di Maria, Memphis Depay and Alexis Sanchez all failed to justify their huge price tags, leaving the club with no choice but to accept significant losses on their initial investments.
Jadon Sancho is now following a similar path after his £72 million ($87m) move to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund in 2021, with a January exit on the cards after his public fallout with Erik ten Hag. But in United’s defence, there was at least some logic to all of those moves, as they put their money behind players with either a wealth of experience at the highest level or those with potential to becoming leading talents of their generation.
Antony, however, did not fall into either of those brackets. The Brazilian joined Ajax from Sao Paulo for just £13m ($16m) in July 2020, and spent two years at the Johan Cruyff ArenA under Ten Hag before following the Dutchman to Old Trafford last summer.
Ajax made a huge profit on Antony, who ranked 19th for goals scored (18), seventh for assists (8) and 21st for chances created (75) in the Eredivisie across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. United didn’t just overpay for the winger, they had their pants pulled down in forking out £85m ($99m).
Antony hit the ground running in Manchester, becoming the first player to score in his first three Premier League games for United, but the glaring flaws in his game soon became apparent. The 23-year-old finished his first campaign with just eight goals to his name, and he’s yet to score or register an assist in nine appearances this term.
There have been no clear signs of improvement in his game, with the Red Devils rarely carrying any real threat down the right flank when he is selected to start. It’s clear already that Antony does not have what it takes to succeed at a club the size of United.
He is still under contract until 2027, but it would make no sense to let his stock keep plummeting. United must cut their losses on Antony at the earliest possible opportunity – on the back of his latest miserable showing in the Manchester Derby…
‘Absolutely ridiculous’
Antony was dropped to the bench for United’s first meeting of the season with arch-rivals Manchester City on Sunday, and was seen shaking his head as Ten Hag snubbed him when making his first three substitutions of the match.
It wasn’t until the 86th minute that Antony was introduced, when United were already 3-0 down, and he didn’t appear to have much interest in trying to help his side stage an unlikely late comeback. In the closing stages, the Brazil international was instead beaten twice by Jeremy Doku in a one-on-one duel, and kicked out at the fleet-footed City attacker in frustration.
Doku wagged his finger in Antony’s face twice in response, and both times the United star angrily attempted to push his hand away before they were pulled apart by their team-mates. When the dust had settled, referee Paul Tierney decided that a yellow card sufficed as punishment for Antony, much to the amazement of United legend Gary Neville.
“That’s absolutely ridiculous, that’s a sending-off,” Neville said while on commentary duty for Sky Sports. “Absolutely ridiculous from Antony. It’s embarrassing.”
Doku still had the last laugh, though, as he took to social media to mock Antony after the final whistle. The Belgian posted an image of their altercation with the caption: “Stay calm. Manchester is blue.”
It wasn’t the first time that Antony has unnecessarily wound up an opponent, and it won’t be the last. Usually, he is the one inviting fouls – but the difference between him and Doku is that he rarely goes on to create a goalscoring chance for his team.
He’s a hot-head with an over-inflated opinion of himself, which is based on the misleading standing he enjoys in Ten Hag’s squad. Antony wouldn’t get near the starting XI at any other of the top six sides in the Premier League – he’s just the fortunate beneficiary of Ten Hag’s failure to look beyond players that he’s worked with in the past.
One-trick pony
Antony was regularly criticised for his perceived showboating last season, with former United midfielder Paul Scholes going so far as to label the former Ajax star a “clown” after his his execution of a needless 360 spin move during a Europa League game.
United are in dire need of a winger that attacks his marker and gets crosses in the box after the arrival of £73m ($89m) Danish frontman Rasmus Hojlund, but Antony certainly doesn’t look capable of providing the 20-year-old with quality service.
Antony will get past his man now and again with a flashy piece of skill, but he often allows the defender to get back at him and slows United down on the attack. He’s style over substance, and incredibly predictable.
When he gets the ball, you know his only goal is to cut inside. Defenders are quickly able to shut Antony down because he doesn’t appear to have any right foot and lacks the pace to get down to the by-line. It’s exasperating to watch him run down the same blind alleys game in, game out, and his team-mates probably feel exactly the same. Ten Hag has always championed quick passing interchanges and incisive counter-attacking football, but is failing to see that Antony prevents his United team from unleashing their full potential.
“In general, end product is massive in football,” former United striker Andy Cole said to Betfred in August. “Does he [Antony] create chances for his team-mates? Not really. Does he contribute by scoring goals? Not really.
“If I was playing in a team and there was an inverted winger of Antony’s ilk, then as a centre-forward I wouldn’t be happy if I wasn’t being provided with enough assists, because my job is to score goals. I don’t believe he’s produced enough considering all the opportunities he’s had to play for Manchester United.”
Off-field distractions
United have endured a dismal start to the 2023-24 campaign, as Ten Hag has struggled to build on the platform of his promising first year at the helm – which saw him deliver the Carabao Cup and a top-four Premier League finish.
It certainly didn’t help that when the action kicked-off, speculation over the Glazer family’s proposed sale of the club was still raging, and the club had not yet made a decision on whether or not to reintegrate Mason Greenwood into the first-team squad.
Greenwood had been suspended since being arrested on suspicion of rape and assault in January 2022, but saw all charges against him dropped in February. United eventually announced their decision to part ways with the English forward on August 21, and he subsequently joined Getafe on loan.
But less than three weeks later, the club were forced into action again after more disturbing allegations, with Antony granted a leave of absence after his ex-girlfriend, Gabriela Cavallin, filed multiple police complaints against him.
Cavallin accused Antony of attacking her while she was pregnant, and claimed that he threw a glass at her and threatened to throw her out of a moving vehicle in a shocking interview with Brazilian outlet UOL. The case is being investigated by Greater Manchester Police and forces in Sao Paulo, with both parties giving their accounts.
United confirmed Antony’s return to the club on September 29, as the player had still not been arrested or charged in the UK or Brazil. Police enquires are still ongoing, though, and the club is keeping the situation under review.
Antony and Cavallin have also released various other statements in the media, which has provided an unwanted sideshow for United after what had already been a turbulent first half of the year. It remains to be seen whether Antony will be punished for any wrongdoing or not, but the whole saga has only brought more negativity.
United have also been forced to confirm that they did carry out the necessary due diligence checks on Antony, having failed to unearth an assault allegation made against him by a woman more than three months before his arrival at Old Trafford from Ajax.
Panic buy
Ten Hag deserves most of the criticism for signing Antony, but United should have known when to stop when Ajax kept driving up their asking price during transfer negotiations.
When quizzed on the deal during a fiery exchange on social media, United icon Neville attempted to point the finger of blame at the Glazers, while also suggesting that they overpaid for Casemiro when prising him away from Real Madrid for £70m ($85m).
“Context on Antony. We’d just lost to Brighton and Brentford and the club was in reactive panic mode as per usual and sanctioned and said ‘Yes’ to Casemiro and Antony,” Neville wrote on Twitter. “It’s all on the Glazers for complete panic and lack of leadership! They’ve done this for 10 years. CR7 [Cristiano Ronaldo] to City and panic. Alexis [Sanchez] to City and panic. Ajax couldn’t believe we’d offered that money. Owners and directors sanction deals. Now I agree Antony needs to do better, but it was never a deal to do in those circumstances.”
It makes sense that United officials felt pressured into a couple of statement signings after seeing their new manager kick off his reign with two damaging defeats. The question is: can the mistake be undone?
The Glazers are now set to sell a minority stake in the club to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is pushing for full control over football matters ahead of a potential full takeover in a few years time. Ratcliffe reportedly questioned the club’s recent transfers during the screening process for potential buyers, and is hoping that his £1.3 billion shareholder agreement goes through before the January transfer window opens.
In addition to overhauling United’s policy when it comes to new signings, Ratcliffe must also clear out the deadwood in the squad – ideally starting with Antony. There should be no shortage of potential suitors for Antony, as he remains a young prospect with the prime years of his career still in front of him. United would be wise to use that as their main sales pitch, but they will also have to bite the bullet and accept another big loss. They’d be lucky to get even half of the original fee they paid for Antony given how badly he has struggled in the famous red shirt.
A loan move could also work for United, especially if an option to buy is included in any final deal. Ten Hag may not be around to protest by that time either, with calls for him to be sacked growing as his team continue to slip further off the pace in the Premier League.
‘Biggest mistake in United history’
After his childish outburst against City, it seems unlikely that Antony will be drafted back into Ten Hag’s line-up. Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount are both capable of playing on the right-flank if needs be, while the United boss could even experiment with Alejandro Garnacho in that position – or push Diogo Dalot further forward.
Antony does boast plenty of skill and a thunderous left-foot, but he doesn’t know how to maximise his best attributes in order to make a telling impact on games. The main reason he’s stayed in favour for so long is because he does tend to work hard defensively, which helped Ten Hag execute his high-pressing strategy last season. But that’s not enough reason for Antony to be on the teamsheet.
An £85m player should have the ability to decide games on his own, whether by playing an incisive pass or conjuring up a goal out of nothing. However, when United need something special to open up a defence, Antony is the last player they can rely on.
Ten Hag will need maximum points from his next three Premier League fixtures, as United prepare for trips to Fulham and Everton, along with a home clash against Luton Town. All three of those teams will likely play a low block in order to stifle United, and they’ll need their more creative players, such as Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Hojlund to step up to the mark.
United will be at immediate disadvantage if Antony starts, because he doesn’t have the imagination, pace or basic footballing intelligence to really make a mark in a competition as big as the Premier League.
Before Antony’s move to Old Trafford was confirmed, popular Ajax fan account ‘The European Lad’ posted an ominous message to United supporters on Twitter, which has since amassed over 9000 likes. “Saying this from an objective point of view: you are making the biggest mistake in United (transfer) history if you sign him for €100M,” the post read.
Oh how United must wish they’d heeded that warning now. There have been plenty of major flops in the English top-flight down the years, but Antony already stands above all the rest.
