‘Ole valued Antony at £25m’ – Scale of Man Utd’s BIGGEST transfer mistake finally revealed

Robin Bairner

• 22 Dec 2023 12:45 GMT
• 2 min read

The scale of mistake that Manchester United made when completing a €100 million transfer for Antony from Ajax has been made clear by a report released on Friday.

Antony moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2022 in a blockbuster deal that was driven out of desperation towards the end of the transfer window.

Man Utd were ultimately convinced to spend over the odds on the forward, who has delivered just eight goals and three assists for his lavish price tag – and not a single one coming this season.

It is a deal that could have been written off as bad luck if the Old Trafford club did not have a habit of continually repeating such mistakes and a staggering testimony in The Athletic reveals that they were walking into the Antony situation with their eyes open.

“Under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United’s scouts had made reports that left staff valuing Antony at around £25m. Midway through the summer of 2022, United cut off talks with Ajax and privately communicated they would not pay more than £60m,” it is stated.

“In the final days of the window, with desperation around Old Trafford heightened and Ten Hag pressing for reinforcements, United agreed a fee of £86m (€95m guaranteed plus €5m add-ons).”

Man Utd's transfer problems in the spotlight

The Antony deal highlights the problems that Man Utd suffer in the transfer market, which are caused by a poor structure that sees deals having to go through multiple parties before they are agreed upon.

“Ultimately the system falters because, at crucial moments, United can decide to pay over the odds for a player and break their budget. Sources insist there is nobody at the club skilled at assessing a player’s worth who also has authority on spending and can take a holistic view of squad building,” it is argued.

Antony is the most striking example of this in action, with no one at Man Utd apparently convinced that he was worth his €100m transfer fee – a fact that is now being played out on the park for all to see.