Once costing Man United £85 million to recruit from Ajax in the summer transfer window of 2022, Antony has yet to contribute much to the Old Trafford team.
Antony still seems to be out of step in MU’s tactical system and certainly needs time to improve, according to former center-back Rio Ferdinand.
In fact, the Brazilian winger had a dream start with MU, when he scored 3 goals in his first 3 matches in the Premier League. But after that, Antony has yet to score another goal, and has not provided an assist in the next 14 appearances.
In recent weeks, Antony has been the subject of sarcasm about the £85 million MU spent to buy him. Things got worse for the Brazilian, as he performed badly in the 7-0 loss to Liverpool . There have even been criticisms that Antony likes to dance, but is actually choosing a safe play for himself.
But according to former defender Rio Ferdinand, Antony’s problem now is that it takes more time to adapt. The former MU star also gave evidence of cases when he had difficulty in the early stages of joining the Red Devils but later became mainstays at Old Trafford such as Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra.
“Not everyone can fit in in the first season. Evra used to take 6 months to assert its value. Vidic too, and they all later became legends of MU”, Rio Ferdinand gave an example, and believes that just being bold and confident to show more mutations like when wearing Ajax shirt, Antony will soon regain his level.
PSV director criticized the transfer of Antony
In an interview with BNR, director Marcel Brands (pictured above) of PSV did not hesitate to say that MU used unreasonable money in the acquisition of Antony from Ajax. “The signing of Antony is a crazy deal, not true to the actual value,” Mr. Brands sarcastically the £ 85 million that MU spent to buy the Brazilian winger last summer. According to Mr. Brands, players like Raphinha (Barca) or Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) are really worth the money.
