Antony to Man Utd: Ajax boss performs U-turn on Brazil winger

FT Desk

14 Sept 2022 08:27 BST
3 min read

Ajax were left livid when Antony forced his €100 million transfer to Manchester United, but the dust appears to be settling at the Dutch champions.

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Ajax endured a mass exodus of players this summer. Antony and Lisandro Martinez followed Erik ten Hag to Old Trafford for a combined €165m, last season's top scorer Sebastien Haller joined Borussia Dortmund while Netherlands midfielder Ryan Gravenberch went to Bayern Munich.

When Antony refused to play for Ajax towards the end of the transfer window, Mohammed Kudus took inspiration and tried to force a move to Everton. Alfred Schreuder, Ten Hag's successor as coach, was livid.

Ajax are really pi**** off over Antony's transfer to Man Utd 😡https://t.co/UiGeU8r9Po
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) September 7, 2022

"It's not good. It's a shame it happened," he said of Antony's strike. "Personally, I just think it's bad. I think that's weird. He was eventually addressed about it… what are we doing now? That frustrates you as a coach. Then I think: you're just a f**king player."

But Ajax have made an impressive start to the season, sitting top of the Dutch Eredivisie with a perfect six wins from six games, while Kudus has plundered two goals and an assist in the Champions League.

Ajax philosophy

"[Antony's transfer] was, for me, disappointing, the way it happened," said Schreduer more recently. "I spoke about it.

"But of course, he can make this transfer. It's also the philosophy of Ajax, they play two or three years good and they can go. So, for him it's a perfect next step, it can be very good. But the moment in that window was, for us, not good.

"Of course, I talked a lot with him. He’s a great guy, he's a great person. And of course, he told me also that he wanted to leave.

"Because he comes from Brazil to Ajax to make a next step. And that's also what we want. We also want players to come sometimes to take a next step. That's good for both. But the timing was, for us, not perfect."

Ajax have a rich history of buying low and selling high, and now clearly don't want to miss out on signing their next €100m player from Brazil.