by Imagine Erik ten Hag’s reaction if he was told back in September 2022, after making Antony the second most expensive player in Manchester United’s history, that the £85 million winger would not be trusted to start a Premier League game in two years and a day. – half a month.
Imagine the United manager’s reaction if he was told that, until the start of spring in Antony’s second season at Old Trafford, the player would be approaching a year without a goal or assist in the league.
Imagine the Ten Hag’s reaction if he was told back then that he would be facing two unproven youngsters in Omari Forson and Amad Diallo before Antony in a league game at home to Fulham that United would lose.
And imagine the answer if it had been explained while the ink was still drying on that five-year contract Antony signed after leaving Ajax that his only goal would arrive by mid-March of the 2023-24 campaign against Newport County League Two in the game. The FA Cup.
Top clubs pay the mega bucks for players they believe will be game changers and match winners and it’s the sort of event you’d expect £85 in a Cup quarter-final FA Sunday between United and Liverpool at Old Trafford. a million signatures to take center stage, to leave a lasting impression.
But Antony’s United career is at the point where he can’t be sure of a start – and supporters are looking to be disappointed and underwhelmed again when the 24-year-old does.
His start at United in 2024 is in the FA Cup but there are no guarantees that Liverpool – one of the most overlooked and feared teams in Europe – will continue to chase the title.
In fact, it took Alejandro Garnacho’s move to the right side more to show Antony what United should be getting from a winger and the Argentine is still a teenager Ten Hag must play too because he is showing regularly more senior players with consistency. is an abstract concept.
Antony’s work out of possession is one of the reasons why Ten Hag favored him in his system. No Premier League player has won possession more times in the final third this season than Antony, for example. But on the ball he is an enigma – extremely one-footed, predictable, unable to beat a man on the outside and, despite Ten Hag’s insistence that he is not much quicker over 10 yards, checking back or constantly inside and unable to escape from his. attention of the marker.
It hasn’t helped Ten Hag that Antony’s terrible season – on and off the pitch – coincided with Marcus Rashford’s slump in form.
But you only need to look across the Premier League at the range of wings delivering to their clubs to recognize how badly United have wronged Antony.
United are likely to get up close and personal with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz this weekend, who, at £34 million and £37 million rising to £49 million respectively, cost more or less the same fee in with Antony.
Leon Bailey, who has been excellent on the right wing for Champions qualification chasers Aston Villa, cost £25 million. Arsenal paid £27 million for Brighton’s Leandro Trossard five months after United snapped up Antony. Tottenham paid £25 million for Dejan Kulusevski last summer.
Anthony Gordon has made a big impact at Newcastle after his £40 million move from Everton. Michael Olise, who is still only 22 years old, has been one of the most popular players in the Premier League since his £9 million move to Crystal Palace a year before Antony changed Old Trafford. Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s £42.5 million signing from Manchester City, has been one of the league’s top performers this season. City paid Rennes £55million for Jeremy Doku and, while £100million man Jack Grealish may have had an injury-plagued third season at the Premier League champions, he played a key role in their Treble success last term.
Ten Hag last month said the assault claims against Antony led the player to take three weeks’ paid leave in September to fight the allegations which he vehemently denies had affected his form earlier in the season. season. But eventually even the Dutchman, Antony’s staunchest supporter, reached the point where he could no longer enjoy his presence and publicly admitted that the player must start delivering.
The question is, however, can he? For a club that insisted Ten Hag would not be ransomed in his first summer in charge, United’s £85 million fee for Antony was a failure on so many levels and more than £50 million higher than the value of the player at. scouts watched him during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure.
It’s also a massive target for Antony’s back and it’s even more absurd when you consider what Arsenal and Bayern Munich have been getting from Declan Rice and Harry Kane respectively for little else this season.
Telegraph Sport reported this week how ongoing police investigations into Gabriela Cavallin’s claims against Antony could seriously complicate any moves to sell the player this summer unless the case is dropped before then. United, at least at this stage, are not actively looking to offload Antony but it is also hard to escape the feeling that the player’s future could be directly linked to the manager’s future.
Until then, United fans can only hope to see more of the talent occupying the Ten Hag over the next few months.
Jamie Carragher
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