€100m for Antony? Man Utd have lost the plot
Paul Macdonald
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 4 min read
Manchester United have performed some dodgy transfer business in the past decade, but spending €100 million on Antony simply defies logic.
The astronomical fee is symptomatic of a club looking to back their manager, but their manager also performing dual roles in recruiting and coaching this team.
€100m for a player whose achievements at a level such as the Eredivisie have been as fleeting as they are modest - eight goals and four assists domestically - simply should not be commanding such a gigantic fee.
It's clear and obvious that when the Premier League come looking for a player, there's a premium placed on them immediately. European clubs are under no illusions that the money available in England means they are happy to pay over the odds to get their target.
And when you add Manchester United into the mix, including their situation, then you can expect to add another premium.
Junior Pedroso, Antony’s agent, now on Instagram 🔴🇧🇷 #MUFC
“Here we go” ✅ pic.twitter.com/LWj2vIR2lq— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 28, 2022
And when you have former manager, Erik Ten Hag, who has already raided the club once this summer, the fee being paid has to reach totally silly proportions.
Ajax have admitted as such throughout this process, that it would have to take a 'stupid' offer in order to to force them into selling, and it's arrived.
Manchester United are handing them €167m for two players with limited top-level experience and they literally cannot believe their luck.
FootballTransfers currently has Antony valued at €27m. Our valuations are based upon a number of factors, including domestic league performance, continental experience, international experience, and valuations of fees for players of a similar level.
We rate Antony as having the potential to being a key player for a team at a higher level than the Eredivisie and that still might well be the case, but boy are Manchester United having to pay to find out.
If he performs to a high standard from the off then the relative size of the fee may be forgotten quickly, but if not then it could prove to be a millstone around the young attacker's neck.
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Antony has a lot of upside and he has clearly pushed Ajax hard to secure the move. But given the ongoing off-field issues at Old Trafford as they scramble to create a new overarching structure, there is a sense that scouting has been foregone in place of players Ten Hag can trust.
He has very much taken a tried-and-tested approach with Lisandro Martinez, and also Tyrell Malacia from the same division. Ten Hag appears to be in a situation where he is gathering like-minded, trustworthy players he can use to break up the pattern at United.
This is, in itself, not a bad idea at all, and could be useful while he gets the rest of the team onside. But he is sanctioning a massive outlay in order to reach that situation in a position where United probably could live with.
Antony: How Manchester United can get the best out of him
Despite adding Casemiro, they remain short in midfield, and they still lack a centre-forward, given the Cristiano Ronaldo saga. At right-back Diogo Dalot still seems somewhat of a stopgap, while David De Gea is not the long-term answer in goal.
So Antony, good player. Could perhaps be great. But €100m puts him among the absolute elite transfers in history - he shouldn't be anywhere near that position at this point in his journey.
