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

[Zehner]

Antony would be a no brainer for me. Ten Hag plays with inverted wingers, Antony has already played at a very high level under him, you have no left footed attacking players, he seems to be available and left foots are incredibly rare at the moment. Well, and he's obviously very, very good.

CBs, RBs and CMs are much easier to sign than RWs. You definitely need them as well, but I'd secure Antony before that.

 

[awkwarddutchguy]

If we buy him cristiano is going to be upset with him as he always goes for the shot when i saw ajax matches, kinda nistelrooy cristiano vibes

 

[VanDeBank]

Last season Koopmeiners was the Caf's overhyped Eredivisie player. This season it's Antony.

He's talented but he also gives CBA vibes if he's not playing in a big game, He shows up in some big games, but I've also seen him struggle a fair bit in other to make an impact, like some of the Europa League games last season where he couldn't get past his man and did feck all except pass it back to his fullback for the full 90 minutes.

#	player	Apps	Goals
1	Sébastien Haller	31	21
2	Loïs Openda	33	18
3	Ricky van Wolfswinkel	32	16
4	Vangelis Pavlidis	33	16
5	Jesper Karlsson	34	15
6	Guus Til	32	15
7	Jörgen Strand Larsen	32	14
8	Dusan Tadić	34	13
9	Bryan Linssen	34	13
10	Cody Gakpo	27	12
11	Luis Sinisterra	30	12
12	Zian Flemming	28	12
13	Eran Zahavi	25	11
14	Michiel Kramer	31	11
15	Mats Seuntjens	32	9
16	Anastasios Douvikas	34	9
17	Cyriel Dessers	27	9
18	Iñigo Córdoba	30	9
19	Davy Klaassen	31	9
20	Bart Ramselaar	26	9
21	Steven Berghuis	33	8
22	Jens Odgaard	30	8
23	Dani de Wit	33	8
24	Antony	23	8

 

[AjaxCunian]

He actually seems to be something of a mix of both, looking at clips of him (which is always dangerous), it seems like he creates a lot of good chances in the league that seemed to be missed, his crossing and choosing the correct pass does not seem particularly off. I don't know why his assists seem slightly off tbh, I would need to see more games to see if in general his crossing is off.

His Eredivisie lower assist tally is quite weird, it is very surprising. Would have to look at his xA.

But he's a winger, with fine output nonetheless.

 

[Ajaxsuarez]

I agree, surely the main point is a player needs to be hungry, work hard and have the right character on and off the pitch. ETH having watched him close up wouldn't be interested if Anthony didn't tick all those boxes. In his first transfer window ETH isn't going to be buying a problem. Lets face it, we have enough of them here already.

Antony is fantastic in this regard.
The idea that he has a poor attitude is based purely on his antics on the pitch, but on the pitch he also has a very high workrate and puts in a defensive shift. He puts a lot of full intensity sprints into pressing and tracking back.

In regards to his off the pitch (or at least outside of match) attitude, this interview after his first half season at the club (which I've posted here before) was very revealing:

"The people in Brazil and within Ajax said that it would be tough for me to quickly adapt. They thought that because of the specific style of Ajax I would have difficulties in the trainings and on the pitch. But in the end it has all gone pretty well. The manager, my teammates and the people around the team, ..., made me feel welcome. And within me burned the fire to as quickly as possible show the real Antony.
Because I don't agree that I have effortlessly adapted. In the Eredivisie it has so far gone okay, but I have experienced that the Champions League is truly of another level. I wasn't completely ready for that and must develop myself further for this. For this, I am doing everything I can. and if for the coming season I grow to thát level, I will be able to make the most of that in the Eredivisie.

That he nevertheless has already delivered a goal or assist every 61 minutes, is partly the result of Antony's unbounded drive to prove himself. "From the moment that Ajax came, I started preparing in Brazil for my Arrival in the Netherlands. I followed all the matches on TV and very specifically watched the attackers. What did Hakim Ziyech and David Neres do at what moments? Why did they make those decisions? What was the result? And - very importantly for an attacking Brazilian - what did they do when possession was lost?"

But that wasn't all. "On the internet I also watched back old matches. In the half year that I'm now here, the coach has put a lot of emphasis on the transition. But I think that because of my studying at home I was mentally already further than he had expected. I feel that - regardless of whether a large fee was paid - you have the duty as new player to do everything to be of value immediately."

And he's had other interviews since then with similar dedication and self-reflection shining through

 

[Tavern in the town]

His Eredivisie lower assist tally is quite weird, it is very surprising. Would have to look at his xA.

But he's a winger, with fine output nonetheless.

4.41 xA according to Infogol.

 

[AjaxCunian]

4.41 xA according to Infogol.

Not great, but weird nonetheless. That he had the same amount of assists in 7 CL games.

 

[We need an rvn]

Antony would be a no brainer for me. Ten Hag plays with inverted wingers, Antony has already played at a very high level under him, you have no left footed attacking players, he seems to be available and left foots are incredibly rare at the moment. Well, and he's obviously very, very good.

CBs, RBs and CMs are much easier to sign than RWs. You definitely need them as well, but I'd secure Antony before that.

And here was me thinking everyone had a left foot

 

[diarm]

If we buy him cristiano is going to be upset with him as he always goes for the shot when i saw ajax matches, kinda nistelrooy cristiano vibes

God I'd hate if if we ended up with another Van Nistelrooy Ronaldo situation...

 

[Wezzaldo]

God I'd hate if if we ended up with another Van Nistelrooy Ronaldo situation...

Hahaha was thinking this myself. First world problems.

 

[awkwarddutchguy]

God I'd hate if if we ended up with another Van Nistelrooy Ronaldo situation...

Yeah i mean van nistelrooy complaining that he receives no crosses from cristiano i could see cristiano complain that anthony goes for the shot a lot a bit like salah

 

[diarm]

Yeah i mean van nistelrooy complaining that he receives no crosses from cristiano i could see cristiano complain that anthony goes for the shot a lot a bit like salah

Well if Antony is as good as Ronaldo was, he can tell him to feck off.

If he's not as good, he'll have to listen and then Ronaldo being demanding will make him a more rounded player.

 

[Nicoseth]

Last season Koopmeiners was the Caf's overhyped Eredivisie player. This season it's Antony.

He's talented but he also gives CBA vibes if he's not playing in a big game, He shows up in some big games, but I've also seen him struggle a fair bit in other to make an impact, like some of the Europa League games last season where he couldn't get past his man and did feck all except pass it back to his fullback for the full 90 minutes.

#	player	Apps	Goals
1	Sébastien Haller	31	21
2	Loïs Openda	33	18
3	Ricky van Wolfswinkel	32	16
4	Vangelis Pavlidis	33	16
5	Jesper Karlsson	34	15
6	Guus Til	32	15
7	Jörgen Strand Larsen	32	14
8	Dusan Tadić	34	13
9	Bryan Linssen	34	13
10	Cody Gakpo	27	12
11	Luis Sinisterra	30	12
12	Zian Flemming	28	12
13	Eran Zahavi	25	11
14	Michiel Kramer	31	11
15	Mats Seuntjens	32	9
16	Anastasios Douvikas	34	9
17	Cyriel Dessers	27	9
18	Iñigo Córdoba	30	9
19	Davy Klaassen	31	9
20	Bart Ramselaar	26	9
21	Steven Berghuis	33	8
22	Jens Odgaard	30	8
23	Dani de Wit	33	8
24	Antony	23	8

Mate this is a poor stat list if it's intended to highlight apparent weaknesses. It's actually a pretty good return - a goal every 3 games from a winger? Not bad. And I totally take your point about him being inconsistent - I think that will definitely be the case with us too if he were to join. But he's 22, similar to Sancho. If we can maximize the potential of those two over the next few years we will have an incredible pair of wingers at the club.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Since we are not going for Nunez anymore and with Ronaldo staying, this would be good signing.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Raphinha is available for 50m also

 

[Hughie77]

We need a striker though, maybe not sm 80m rated one but we need one

Agree we do, thing is who? £80M. For Nunez no chance. So UTD need to look let's see.

 

[FrankWhite]

I would sign Antony, only if we manage to keep Martial. Sounds crazy I know but right now, not counting youth players, we have:
2 strikers in Ronaldo and Martial
3 wingers/wide forwards in Rashford, Sancho and Elanga.
If Martial goes, we will need another forward that's able to play centrally and score goals. Neither Antony nor any of our forwards can do this. I imagine it's probably why Nunez makes a lot of sense. He can play centrally or as a wide forward, in the same lineup as Ronaldo.
Assuming we don't have the budget to buy a winger and a striker, I would prioritise a forward that's able to do both. Nkunku come to mind though odd as it sounds, I unsure about him, especially as a central striker.
So if we sign Antony as a winger/wide forward, I'd try to convince Martial to stay, at least for this season. This will also let us focus on other pressing needs in this window. What do people think?

 

[Ali Dia]

This guy has world class potential

 

[devilish]

Agree we do, thing is who? £80M. For Nunez no chance. So UTD need to look let's see.

There are some bargains around if we want to. Nketiah to Belotti are free agents while the likes of Dembele, Depay, Kalajdzic and Moukoko has just 1 year left on their contract.

 

[paraguayo]

I've follwed him a lot. If he came, you can expect Wan Bissaka to be an inside fullback and Antony to be positioned by the sideline basically a lot of times.

 

[RC89]

Triple A
The Tony's

I was tempted to make a joke about battery...but probably not the most appropriate right now

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I've follwed him a lot. If he came, you can expect Wan Bissaka to be an inside fullback and Antony to be positioned by the sideline basically a lot of times.

Dalot would be good for that role

 

[NewYorkRed]

I would sign Antony, only if we manage to keep Martial. Sounds crazy I know but right now, not counting youth players, we have:
2 strikers in Ronaldo and Martial
3 wingers/wide forwards in Rashford, Sancho and Elanga.
If Martial goes, we will need another forward that's able to play centrally and score goals. Neither Antony nor any of our forwards can do this. I imagine it's probably why Nunez makes a lot of sense. He can play centrally or as a wide forward, in the same lineup as Ronaldo.
Assuming we don't have the budget to buy a winger and a striker, I would prioritise a forward that's able to do both. Nkunku come to mind though odd as it sounds, I unsure about him, especially as a central striker.
So if we sign Antony as a winger/wide forward, I'd try to convince Martial to stay, at least for this season. This will also let us focus on other pressing needs in this window. What do people think?

You will get stick for this but that is actually a reasonable post. We need a striker besides Ronaldo in the squad.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

Last season Koopmeiners was the Caf's overhyped Eredivisie player. This season it's Antony.

He's talented but he also gives CBA vibes if he's not playing in a big game, He shows up in some big games, but I've also seen him struggle a fair bit in other to make an impact, like some of the Europa League games last season where he couldn't get past his man and did feck all except pass it back to his fullback for the full 90 minutes.

#	player	Apps	Goals
1	Sébastien Haller	31	21
2	Loïs Openda	33	18
3	Ricky van Wolfswinkel	32	16
4	Vangelis Pavlidis	33	16
5	Jesper Karlsson	34	15
6	Guus Til	32	15
7	Jörgen Strand Larsen	32	14
8	Dusan Tadić	34	13
9	Bryan Linssen	34	13
10	Cody Gakpo	27	12
11	Luis Sinisterra	30	12
12	Zian Flemming	28	12
13	Eran Zahavi	25	11
14	Michiel Kramer	31	11
15	Mats Seuntjens	32	9
16	Anastasios Douvikas	34	9
17	Cyriel Dessers	27	9
18	Iñigo Córdoba	30	9
19	Davy Klaassen	31	9
20	Bart Ramselaar	26	9
21	Steven Berghuis	33	8
22	Jens Odgaard	30	8
23	Dani de Wit	33	8
24	Antony	23	8

Koopmeiners is fantastic and has taken to Serie A brilliantly as well as becoming a bigger part of a really good Netherlands NT. Dont be a snob over him to make a point about another player.

 

[Stacks]

Mate this is a poor stat list if it's intended to highlight apparent weaknesses. It's actually a pretty good return - a goal every 3 games from a winger? Not bad. And I totally take your point about him being inconsistent - I think that will definitely be the case with us too if he were to join. But he's 22, similar to Sancho. If we can maximize the potential of those two over the next few years we will have an incredible pair of wingers at the club.

Mate he is bottom of all those list of players . Scoring 1 in 3 in eredivise you must be average as hell. Memphis hit 22 before we signed him and was still ass FFS. standards on the floor right now.

Antony would be a no brainer for me. Ten Hag plays with inverted wingers, Antony has already played at a very high level under him, you have no left footed attacking players, he seems to be available and left foots are incredibly rare at the moment. Well, and he's obviously very, very good.

CBs, RBs and CMs are much easier to sign than RWs. You definitely need them as well, but I'd secure Antony before that.

when? Neres has had better seasons than him in 2018. What has Antony done?

This guy has world class potential

My god y'all really just gas any Ajax player up dont ya?

 

[VanDeBank]

Koopmeiners is fantastic and has taken to Serie A brilliantly as well as becoming a bigger part of a really good Netherlands NT. Dont be a snob over him to make a point about another player.

He's been bang average for both Holland and Atalanta.

Mate this is a poor stat list if it's intended to highlight apparent weaknesses. It's actually a pretty good return - a goal every 3 games from a winger? Not bad. And I totally take your point about him being inconsistent - I think that will definitely be the case with us too if he were to join. But he's 22, similar to Sancho. If we can maximize the potential of those two over the next few years we will have an incredible pair of wingers at the club.

A goal every 3 games in the Eredivisie isn't a good return from a player you want to make an immediate impact at Manchester United. It's the fecking Eredivisie.
Look at the forwards that actually made an impact after their transfer. They were banging them in for fun and leading the top scorer lists (Suarez). Sometimes top scorers flop as well, but at least they have a shot. When has a forward not even in the top 20 goal scorer in the Eredivisie ever hacked at it a giant club like MU, let alone the in the PL? I cant name a single one.

You missed my point. His inconsistency is due to attitude problems, which I would stay clear from given our dressing room. He looks like he cant be arsed against Cambuur and such. Maybe it's not glamorous enough for him.

 

[lex talionis]

I would sign Antony, only if we manage to keep Martial. Sounds crazy I know but right now, not counting youth players, we have:
2 strikers in Ronaldo and Martial
3 wingers/wide forwards in Rashford, Sancho and Elanga.
If Martial goes, we will need another forward that's able to play centrally and score goals. Neither Antony nor any of our forwards can do this. I imagine it's probably why Nunez makes a lot of sense. He can play centrally or as a wide forward, in the same lineup as Ronaldo.
Assuming we don't have the budget to buy a winger and a striker, I would prioritise a forward that's able to do both. Nkunku come to mind though odd as it sounds, I unsure about him, especially as a central striker.
So if we sign Antony as a winger/wide forward, I'd try to convince Martial to stay, at least for this season. This will also let us focus on other pressing needs in this window. What do people think?

Good analysis, but I don’t regard Martial as a striker. Not a proper striker at least.

 

[sglowrider]

I would sign Antony, only if we manage to keep Martial. Sounds crazy I know but right now, not counting youth players, we have:
2 strikers in Ronaldo and Martial
3 wingers/wide forwards in Rashford, Sancho and Elanga.
If Martial goes, we will need another forward that's able to play centrally and score goals. Neither Antony nor any of our forwards can do this. I imagine it's probably why Nunez makes a lot of sense. He can play centrally or as a wide forward, in the same lineup as Ronaldo.
Assuming we don't have the budget to buy a winger and a striker, I would prioritise a forward that's able to do both. Nkunku come to mind though odd as it sounds, I unsure about him, especially as a central striker.
So if we sign Antony as a winger/wide forward, I'd try to convince Martial to stay, at least for this season. This will also let us focus on other pressing needs in this window. What do people think?

You lost me at 'only if we manage to keep Martial'!!

 

[DickDastardly]

You lost me at 'only if we manage to keep Martial'!!

 

[Primex]

You lost me at 'only if we manage to keep Martial'!!

 

[Andycoleno9]

I must admit that i miss having some prick in team who will be hated among other fans. Herrera was last one

 

[bosskeano]

This guy would be a very good signing as he would give us an impact player on the right if they insist on playing Sancho on the left and rashford remains shit

Nunez is going to cost 100m....we could damn near bring in both Antony and Nkunku for that same price

 

[FrankWhite]

You will get stick for this but that is actually a reasonable post. We need a striker besides Ronaldo in the squad.

No kidding, just look at the reactions

Good analysis, but I don’t regard Martial as a striker. Not a proper striker at least.

Thanks, I agree that Martial isn't a proper striker, definitely wouldn't be my choice after the last two seasons he's had. However, he's the only other one we have, and he's the only player on the team that can somewhat play with his back to goal. Also, I think he's technical skills and decision making will suit ETH more than Rashford.

From Martial's perspective, he's basically moved two places up the depth chart in the absence of Cavani and Greenwood. More realistic chance of game time.

You lost me at 'only if we manage to keep Martial'!!

cheers mate

 

[NoPace]

Dalot would be good for that role

The only Ajax player from either of Ten Hag’s very different great teams there I could see Dalot filling the role of is Mazraoui, yeah.

The case for Antony is not that he’ll score goals at a high rate, but that he’d help us actually progress the ball forwards by playing so wide and deep on the right it opens up the half spaces.

I won’t be surprised if Ten Hag realizes that we’re miles away from being able to keep the ball under pressure and even with De Jong, we need a Pau Torres level passer at LCB AND Antony wide right to get us playing his system next year well enough to challenge for 4th.

 

[Adnan]

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[Adnan]

Jorge Nicola who is the Sao Paolo based journo relaying the news regarding Antony, was credited by David Ornstein when the news of Arsenal's interest in Gabriel Jesus first surfaced in April. So it seems the journo is credible.

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[Trex]

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We've been linked with a handful of right wing options so hopefully he's first choice and this is true.
I don't fancy any of Asensio, Chamberlain or Trossard.

 

[sglowrider]

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I am expecting only 3 signings and the rest are either free agents or/and a couple of academy kids. So I am surprised if Antony is his 2nd signing considering other priorities (another striker or ball progressing defender) unless he is the easiest to get.

So maybe we are buying more than 3?

 

[laughtersassassin]

His numbers are not good at all considering his league and who he plays for.

Won't pretend I've watched much of him but he'd need to nearly come in and double those numbers instantly......

We got to be building to beat City and Liverpool who are both relentless

 

[diarm]

I am expecting only 3 signings and the rest are either free agents or/and a couple of academy kids. So I am surprised if Antony is his 2nd signing considering other priorities (another striker or ball progressing defender) unless he is the easiest to get.

So maybe we are buying more than 3?

We're losing anywhere between 7 and 12 first team players this summer. I don't know how this idea that we're only going to sign 2 or 3 players persists.

If we don't sell anybody, we might get away with signing 4 new players. But if any of Henderson, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Jones, Wan-Bissaka, Telles or Williams get sold, we're going to need to sign more than 4.

There's no point basing predictions on what has happened in previous summers, when we've never seen so many shipped out in one summer before.