Antony | Here we go! €100mill, contract until June 2027, option 'til 2028.

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JoaquinJoaquin

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This probably won't happen. But I'd love to see us sign a flair player like this. All been so dull the last couple of years.
 

Berbaclass

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I think this interest is because of Nunez to Liverpool. I bet ETH thinks he will be okay for a season with Ronaldo and Rashford and Anthony as forwards.

Think we’ll sign him of Nkunku as a forward
 

OleGunnar20

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This probably won't happen. But I'd love to see us sign a flair player like this. All been so dull the last couple of years.
Agreed! I'd love to be excited about watching United again, and hope ETH can bring that. Haven't watched any of this guy really but his highlights look exciting, outside of the playacting of course..
 

bosnian_red

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Yes please. Finally a left footed right winger to be on the opposite side to Sancho. Would prefer this to Darwin. Can wait a year on striker if we sort out RW.
Sancho Ronaldo Antony
Rashford Martial Elanga
As the starters and backup 3. Fine for me if we then focus on the midfield and manage to bring in Frenkie.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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Yes please. Finally a left footed right winger to be on the opposite side to Sancho. Would prefer this to Darwin. Can wait a year on striker if we sort out RW.
Sancho Ronaldo Antony
Rashford Martial Elanga
As the starters and backup 3. Fine for me if we then focus on the midfield and manage to bring in Frenkie.
Yeah I agree with this. Ideally I would of liked a young prospect ST to backup Ronaldo, but i'd much prefer we got Antony and sorted out the midfield for now.
 

bosnian_red

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Yeah I agree with this. Ideally I would of liked a young prospect ST to backup Ronaldo, but i'd much prefer we got Antony and sorted out the midfield for now.
Yeah. We can use Rashford and Martial as strikers to rotate Ronaldo, and a better system should improve them all anyway. We'll be in a much stronger negotiating position in a year, and hopefully there will be some better options than just Darwin for 100m next year.

Not like Martial will go anywhere this summer anyway.
 

Red Royal

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Yes please. Finally a left footed right winger to be on the opposite side to Sancho. Would prefer this to Darwin. Can wait a year on striker if we sort out RW.
Sancho Ronaldo Antony
Rashford Martial Elanga
As the starters and backup 3. Fine for me if we then focus on the midfield and manage to bring in Frenkie.
With Amad as another option it could work
 

Abraxas

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I don't think we can go with Martial as a backup striker. To me that's as good as saying we have a very good 38 year old and then basically nothing which should never be the case when you have the chance to rectify it. Martial is just a body collecting a wage, he has given up on football, he's out of shape and just not very good. Too much of a gamble for my liking but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen as it's hard to solve everything.
 

Offside

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Yes please. Finally a left footed right winger to be on the opposite side to Sancho. Would prefer this to Darwin. Can wait a year on striker if we sort out RW.
Sancho Ronaldo Antony
Rashford Martial Elanga
As the starters and backup 3. Fine for me if we then focus on the midfield and manage to bring in Frenkie.
I would be inclined to agree but I'm so sick of the sight of Martial I'm prioritising a backup striker just as much as midfield.
 

Van Piorsing

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Can't see this. I think we'll bring in Timber and that's our shopping done in Amsterdam.
So far it's far from any negotiations, but quite possible Ajax could find decent alternative to Antony as their scouting senses in last 10 years are sharper than ever and tbh I'd rather spend money in Amsterdam than in La Liga, where we were constantly taken to huge spending net, including upcoming Frenkie deal which could be another budget drainer.

While we have good relations with Ajax this could be theoretically possible... and then there's so many other positions to address, it makes difficult to dream of Antony on top of functional defense & midfield.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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I don't think we can go with Martial as a backup striker. To me that's as good as saying we have a very good 38 year old and then basically nothing which should never be the case when you have the chance to rectify it. Martial is just a body collecting a wage, he has given up on football, he's out of shape and just not very good. Too much of a gamble for my liking but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen as it's hard to solve everything.
We have to be realistic though. The Ralf 'we need x amount of players' thing has zero chance of happening. We will probably bring in 2 or 3 max. So Martial will be here and will be needed next season (unless we get a high offer for him). And I say this as someone who would rather he be moved on.
 

bosnian_red

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I would be inclined to agree but I'm so sick of the sight of Martial I'm prioritising a backup striker just as much as midfield.
Yeah but realistically I don't think we will sign a backup striker as they will all cost a lot, and I don't think Martial leaves due to lack of options on his wages. Also being in Europa League, meh? Not a huge priority, we'll live.

With Amad as another option it could work
Let's be realistic, Amad needs loan time and he won't have any role in our first team at this point. Also we are in the Europa League, not CL, so I don't think it's as vital to have as much depth. Elanga as backup on the right with Rashford on the left is fine.
 

bosnian_red

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I don't think we can go with Martial as a backup striker. To me that's as good as saying we have a very good 38 year old and then basically nothing which should never be the case when you have the chance to rectify it. Martial is just a body collecting a wage, he has given up on football, he's out of shape and just not very good. Too much of a gamble for my liking but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen as it's hard to solve everything.
With us being in the Europa League, i think it's less of an issue. Martial has shown a good level in the past, though obviously been useless for a while. But Rashford can also rotate up top with Ronaldo, and in general I think Ten Hag will really focus on getting him back to his best so that's a viable option, if all goes well.
 

Offside

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Yeah but realistically I don't think we will sign a backup striker as they will all cost a lot, and I don't think Martial leaves due to lack of options on his wages. Also being in Europa League, meh? Not a huge priority, we'll live.
Well that’s the thing. I’m willing the bet Ronaldo won’t play a single minute in the Europa League so we’ll have Martial starting every other Thursday. Hopefully we can at least get someone on loan. Maybe Bruno as a false 9 isn’t the end of the world. But what if Ronaldo gets injured?
 

amolbhatia50k

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We desperately need some flair and quality in attack. A left footed RW would be great but it needs to be complimented by a RB who can provide some threat too.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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If we can get both then perfect but an RW is more important that a striker. In fact about 3 other positions are also more important than a striker.

One route we can go is to try and kill two birds with one stone and go for someone like Richarlison that can play RW and ST
 

bosnian_red

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Well that’s the thing. I’m willing the bet Ronaldo won’t play a single minute in the Europa League so we’ll have Martial starting every other Thursday. Hopefully we can at least get someone on loan. Maybe Bruno as a false 9 isn’t the end of the world. But what if Ronaldo gets injured?
Ronaldo will play in the knockout stages, not the group stages though.
If Ronaldo gets injured (never really happens), then we likely put Rashford top? We have options. Can't plan for everything at this stage, so important to focus on what is realistic and worth it, and enough to achieve our goals next season. And that would be aim to win the Europa League and get top 4. I'd definitely say that a team like:
Ronaldo
Sancho Bruno Antony
Fred FdJ
Shaw Varane Maguire Timber
De Gea

Martial
Rashford VdB Elanga
McTominay Garner
Telles Lindelof Whoever Dalot
Doesn't matter
Is enough to achieve that. Just needs coaching, but there is enough quality there, and enough depth to get through the league and a Europa League season. Next year we'd need a striker, fullbacks and another midfielder and probably a goalkeeper too, but anyway. One step at a time.
 

Abraxas

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With us being in the Europa League, i think it's less of an issue. Martial has shown a good level in the past, though obviously been useless for a while. But Rashford can also rotate up top with Ronaldo, and in general I think Ten Hag will really focus on getting him back to his best so that's a viable option, if all goes well.
The Europa would be a good competition for us to win, it's not one I'd write off. We have won feck all for a long time. It's also a backup option for qualification if we struggle for top 4. I think we'll need better than Martial to win that competition, the bloke couldn't even impress Sevilla, the perennial Europa candidates!

To me a striker should be one of the 4-5 we try and get in. People call it a "backup" striker which I think tends to misrepresent the situation. He won't be that much of a backup, ETH has to show some authority with Ronaldo so we can maximize his performance. He's not a machine resistant to time, just because Ralf and Ole couldn't man manage him doesn't mean the new manager should be in awe. There is going to be a lot of game time available, and for me I can't stomach Martial or Rashford who is simply not a striker.

But yeah, we are going to be short somewhere going into the season, it's just a matter of opinion as to where that should be.
 

NewYorkRed

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I don’t get this talk of us needing a RW. Wasn’t Sancho supposed to solve our RW problems according to literally every poster on here last here? What happened, give up too soon?

For the record I actually agree that we need a flair player in the squad but I also think Sancho will have a much better year this year.
 

Scholsey2004

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Essentially Greenwood's replacement if it happens. I'm not entirely sold on him but realistically there isnt a huge number of left footed wide players on the market and when a good one comes along you need to snap them up.
 

Godfather

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Yes please. Finally a left footed right winger to be on the opposite side to Sancho. Would prefer this to Darwin. Can wait a year on striker if we sort out RW.
Sancho Ronaldo Antony
Rashford Martial Elanga
As the starters and backup 3. Fine for me if we then focus on the midfield and manage to bring in Frenkie.
Yes please. Plus we also have Amad as a back-up RW.
 

Scholsey2004

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I don’t get this talk of us needing a RW. Wasn’t Sancho supposed to solve our RW problems according to literally every poster on here last here? What happened, give up too soon?

For the record I actually agree that we need a flair player in the squad but I also think Sancho will have a much better year this year.
We havent got any left footed attackers since Greenwood imploded and Mata left, with the exception of Amad who seems to need another loan.
 

Andrew7582

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I'd much rather get this guy than Nunez, would be very happy with this signing.
 

AjaxCunian

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I think we could use the money better for other positions.

Sancho might prefer the left, but he is still very good from the right. Get Sancho and Rashford in form, and have Elanga, Amad, Pellistri, Garnacho as backups for those positions.

If Sancho, Rashford don't perform, try to go for a winger in January.

We really need 2 CM at the very least. We also need a RB, LB, CB, ST if you ask me. All we have arent good enough, but have shown to be useful in the past. It is rather tricky.
 

Adam-Utd

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I don’t get this talk of us needing a RW. Wasn’t Sancho supposed to solve our RW problems according to literally every poster on here last here? What happened, give up too soon?

For the record I actually agree that we need a flair player in the squad but I also think Sancho will have a much better year this year.
As usual, he prefers playing on the left. We've been playing Elanga more often than not on the right wing instead.

Sancho and Antony together on the wings would be 2 great ball carriers that are individually brilliant also.
 

RORY65

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The Europa would be a good competition for us to win, it's not one I'd write off. We have won feck all for a long time. It's also a backup option for qualification if we struggle for top 4. I think we'll need better than Martial to win that competition, the bloke couldn't even impress Sevilla, the perennial Europa candidates!

To me a striker should be one of the 4-5 we try and get in. People call it a "backup" striker which I think tends to misrepresent the situation. He won't be that much of a backup, ETH has to show some authority with Ronaldo so we can maximize his performance. He's not a machine resistant to time, just because Ralf and Ole couldn't man manage him doesn't mean the new manager should be in awe. There is going to be a lot of game time available, and for me I can't stomach Martial or Rashford who is simply not a striker.

But yeah, we are going to be short somewhere going into the season, it's just a matter of opinion as to where that should be.
If we sign a striker then they will primarily be a back-up, politically it's going to be very difficult for Ten Hag to come in and regularly leave Ronaldo out of league games given how important he is to the club (not just for football reasons) plus we've seen how he reacted to getting taken off against Brentford, he did the same even with Ferguson, and I doubt a new manager will want to deal with that so early on.

I would be happy for us to sign a young striker but there are several areas in the first 11 that more urgently need fixing, including the right wing if Sancho still doesn't offer much on that side (it's a different story if ETH thinks he can perform as well there as on the left), and we might just have to accept that some of the squad options aren't going to be good this year given we're not going to be able to sign 5+ players in summer. Plus even in the hypothetical situation you note Ronaldo could always play the latter stages of the Europa League if it's our best route to Champions League qualification and a trophy, Martial and Rashford should suffice to get us a decent way in that competition.
 

KirkDuyt

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Please United, pretty please with sugar on top, don't buy this whingy cnut. If you do, you will never be allowed to moan about diving, cheating and play acting ever again.

He's overrated anyway.

Did I mention he's a cnut?
 

AjaxCunian

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Please United, pretty please with sugar on top, don't buy this whingy cnut. If you do, you will never be allowed to moan about diving, cheating and play acting ever again.

He's overrated anyway.

Did I mention he's a cnut?
Talking crap, he isn't overrated and being "allowed to moan about diving, cheating, play acting" isn't a real thing and especially not some trophy.
 

Mickeza

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We need a left footed right winger and a striker. It isn’t either/or - Cavani, Lingard, Mata, Greenwood and Martial have all gone/will go. Elanga has been added meaning we have the grand total of 4 attackers…We need two more hence why spending 100m on Nunez who would want to play every week when we have Ronaldo was bonkers. Once the fee got over 50m it was unrealistic. Antony and a younger thus cheaper profile striker makes far more sense.
 

Adnan

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I don’t get this talk of us needing a RW. Wasn’t Sancho supposed to solve our RW problems according to literally every poster on here last here? What happened, give up too soon?

For the record I actually agree that we need a flair player in the squad but I also think Sancho will have a much better year this year.
Not by literally every poster, there was some posters who did argue about Sancho being best utilised on the left.
 

Daslogisch

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As if we would sign him for €60m. Can’t see Ajax getting that type of money for him. Just easy to make up rumours around United this season.
60m is peanuts if Darwin Nunez is going to Liverpool for 80-100m. Antony is going to be a bigger star. Ajax board will have a serious problem if they sell Antony for that type of money. Hes currently a starting player for Brazil, with him potentially starting at the WC and being a big factor his value can increase dramatically. Moreover he has not been at Ajax that long and has a long term contract. 60m may be a decent value, but for players with huge potential you also pay for that potential. Especially if the selling club holds a leverage of a long term contract. Antony has a contract until 2025.

United apparently has £120 to spend with about half of it going to De Jong. I dont think there is room to buy Antony and I think United should have other priorities as well.
 

golden_blunder

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So far it's far from any negotiations, but quite possible Ajax could find decent alternative to Antony as their scouting senses in last 10 years are sharper than ever and tbh I'd rather spend money in Amsterdam than in La Liga, where we were constantly taken to huge spending net, including upcoming Frenkie deal which could be another budget drainer.

While we have good relations with Ajax this could be theoretically possible... and then there's so many other positions to address, it makes difficult to dream of Antony on top of functional defense & midfield.
Dirty boy
 

KirkDuyt

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Talking crap, he isn't overrated and being "allowed to moan about diving, cheating, play acting" isn't a real thing and especially not some trophy.
Yes it is. It's in our constitution. I just amended it with a sharpy. Which is totally fine. It's great.

I will concede it's not a trophy.

Surely even an Ajacied can admit Antony is a twat though. I'd happily admit to Feyenoord players being twats, but you bought ours :wenger:
 

AjaxCunian

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Yes it is. It's in our constitution. I just amended it with a sharpy. Which is totally fine. It's great.

I will concede it's not a trophy.

Surely even an Ajacied can admit Antony is a twat though. I'd happily admit to Feyenoord players being twats, but you bought ours :wenger:
He's a twat, very much. I'm sure every fan of another club would agree.

As an Ajax fan, at times it might be a bit cringey the way he acts. But first and foremost he's an excellent player that helps you win games.

City, Real have cheating menachisms collectively, I doubt they care after Casemiro and Fernandinho were allowed 10 fouls without getting a yellow.
 
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