Antony set to break yet another record with Man Utd transfer
Karan Tejwani
- 29 Aug 2022 01:45 CDT
- 3 min read
Manchester United are close to completing the signing of Ajax winger Antony for a fee of around €100 million, including add-ons, as they look to improve their attacking options this summer.
The Red Devils are set to make the winger their fifth signing of the summer after Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro.
Erik ten Hag has long admired Antony having seen his development first-hand over the years when the pair were together at Ajax between 2020 and the end of last season.
The manager made Antony his top priority for the attack and was willing to spend big, with Manchester United previously having €80 million and €90 million bids for the player rejected.
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Records broken and set by Antony
The fee is big, and with that, there are several records being broken as Antony makes his way to Old Trafford to take his place in the Manchester United attack.
Ajax have made some big sales including the years, including the likes of Matthijs de Ligt to Juventus and Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona, but Antony will top all of that.
He will become Ajax’s biggest-ever sale, with the Dutch champions’ firm negotiation strategy ensuring this record is set, and it’s going to be hard to break in the coming years.
Ajax are also the Eredivisie’s premier club, competing with some of Europe’s best, and they have now set the record for the league’s biggest sale.
Once again, this overtakes De Jong’s transfer to Barcelona back in 2019, and with Ajax constantly producing the league’s best talents, it’ll probably be them to break the record again when the time comes in the future.
There is a reason Erik ten Hag's two major transfer priorities were Lisandro Martínez and Antony. Its not that they are two excellent players with even higher ceilings, but they were the players - more than anyone else - whom he shaped and developed, *his* players. Fundamental.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) August 28, 2022
With Antony’s transfer to Manchester United, he becomes the club’s second-biggest purchase ever, still behind the transfer of midfielder Paul Pogba when he swapped Juventus for the Red Devils in 2016.
He now overtakes Harry Maguire – the world’s most-expensive defender – who transferred for €87 million from Leicester back in 2019, and his transfer is worth €5 million less than Pogba’s.
Finally, Antony will become the third most-expensive Brazilian ever, which is a great record for a player from a country that produces some of the world’s best players.
His transfer is behind Neymar’s €222 million move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain and Philippe Coutinho’s €142 million move from Liverpool to Barcelona.
Manchester United have taken a big risk and they’ve been patient to bring Antony from the Johan Cruyff Arena, and no matter what happens, there are already some records broken and set.
