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

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Lux Thunder

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Ah yes, Alex Ferguson and his classic risk free approach of selling 3 of his best players who'd helped us to 2 titles in 3 years in 1995 and signing nobody.
The same time he also swapped Keith Gillespie + money for Andy Cole, and Gillespie was probably a highly rated youngster in the league at the time and the deal including his services and cash was a British record at the time. Newcastle quickly became main rivals for the title and at one point they had 12 points more than United, so very risky from SAF indeed. But worth a title in the end, and who knows, maybe with Sancho and Antony at wings, we would have "The Entertainers" no.2 in Premier League.
 

diarm

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The same time he also swapped Keith Gillespie + money for Andy Cole, and Gillespie was probably a highly rated youngster in the league at the time and the deal including his services and cash was a British record at the time. Newcastle quickly became main rivals for the title and at one point they had 12 points more than United, so very risky from SAF indeed. But worth a title in the end, and who knows, maybe with Sancho and Antony at wings, we would have "The Entertainers" no.2 in Premier League.
I was only 8 or 9 at the time, but I remember my dad being absolutely furious that we were letting Gillespie go.
 

TheReligion

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Yeah angry was overstating it. Apologies. A bit annoyed would be a better description.

Until last week everything looked all done. Antony happy and said he didn't mind staying another year even after the earlier high bids, him playing an amazing game at the weekend and kissing the logo and all was good in the world. And then another bid came in and things did change.

So it wasn't until last week that he really wanted to leave.

So yeah I agree an unhappy Antony is suboptimal, but he has a contract until 2027 (!) and with a world cup coming up where he isn't even sure of a starting spot or might even risk his spot in the squad if he downs tools he doesn't really have much say in it.

I am more worried about after the world cup
So how do we know such thing? From media/journos? That would be error prone. Ofcourse Antony would want to make a step, but does that mean he does not want to play for Ajax for months already? I’d say no. A week ago we were all focussed on Antony kissing the Ajax logo. Last Friday the media/journos stated that Antony would like being reunited but does not feel a requirement to leave Ajax.

So yeah, Antpny probably will like his new salary in England, but probably(!) also doesn’t mind playing ball for Ajax
I assume the club made some promises to Antony at the start of the window in relation to what they’d accept for him if another bid came in. He’s now upset as they are yet again playing hard ball and going back on it.

The only explanation really for how he is behaving.
 

Green Yellow Red

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I think they will hold the Anthony announcement until after the Southampton match in case we lose to put a positive spin on things.
 

MrSingh2002

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I think they will hold the Anthony announcement until after the Southampton match in case we lose to put a positive spin on things.
Bingo. They're probably delaying it too so that people don't expect further signings. The propaganda, fake news and distraction leaks from the Glazers are worse than Trump/Biden in the US.
 

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I think they will hold the Anthony announcement until after the Southampton match in case we lose to put a positive spin on things.
Rather than announcing before the game, like they did with Casemiro. If the deal is done, it's more likely before (today), or waiting for a stock market day
 

captaincantona

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I was only 8 or 9 at the time, but I remember my dad being absolutely furious that we were letting Gillespie go.
It was down to the foreign player rule, Gillespie being northern Irish they needed to swap him for an English forward (Cole of course). We already had Kanchelskis. Ferguson tried to buy him back when Kanchelskis left not too long after. In the same way as Gaza, would have had a much better career if he had of been under Fergusons wing.
 

BluesJr

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This would have been done if we had lost on Monday, now it’ll drag into next week to distract everyone from making other much needed signings. This club is so transparent.
 

VP89

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Rather than announcing before the game, like they did with Casemiro. If the deal is dont, it's more likely before (today), pr waiting for a stock market day
I think they will hold the Anthony announcement until after the Southampton match in case we lose to put a positive spin on things.
Nothing is held back from our side. We are waiting for Ajax to settle their replacement I think
 

VP89

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This would have been done if we had lost on Monday, now it’ll drag into next week to distract everyone from making other much needed signings. This club is so transparent.
Do you just make conspiracies for fun?
 

Fortitude

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Great posts, Ajax guys.

You have every right to defend your position and state you're not here for our indulgence.

If a club came sniffing around a star player of ours at the end of a transfer window, we'd be the exact same.
 

jackal&hyde

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Great posts, Ajax guys.

You have every right to defend your position and state you're not here for our indulgence.

If a club came sniffing around a star player of ours at the end of a transfer window, we'd be the exact same.
True, but Ajax knows he wants out from the beginning of the window. It was let late because we had other targets to get done, but this was always going to happen. No one should be surprised.
 

VP89

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True, but Ajax knows he wants out from the beginning of the window. It was let late because we had other targets to get done, but this was always going to happen. No one should be surprised.
Thats just not true
 

Tommy79

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It was down to the foreign player rule, Gillespie being northern Irish they needed to swap him for an English forward (Cole of course). We already had Kanchelskis. Ferguson tried to buy him back when Kanchelskis left not too long after. In the same way as Gaza, would have had a much better career if he had of been under Fergusons wing.
Keith leaving had nothing to do with the poxy 3 man rule, as remember Uefa's regulations decreed that clubs could field only three foreign players plus two "assimilated" players who had come through their youth set-up which Keith did, and as for him "having" a better career under Fergie, you have no way of proving that as, hmm Lee Sharpe, Fergie couldn't control his party lifestyle, just like he couldn't with Yorkie either hence why both were shown the door, so to say he would have thrived under Fergie is madness gone mad.

He was let leave due to Beckham's rising in Fergie's eyes, and don't forget just 10 months later a ruling came in by the EU not little UEFA in terms of those two, in stopping that 3 player ruling, which was deemed a breach of the 1992 Maastricht treaty and saw the end of it with the Bosman ruling Dec 95.
 
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devilish

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Agree with the Van der Gouw fanboys. I’m 38 so was only 15-16 at the time he was around but can’t recall him being nothing but solid whenever he played. Can’t remember if he was bought in to eventually replace Schmeichel or just as a backup? Would assume the later as he is older than Schmeichel, at least in my head he is.
Vdg was the most solid keeper we had during the dark ages between Schmeichel and VDS.
 

Thoms

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Its quite obvious were trying to work on a replacement asap but Chelsea are making things rather difficult.
 

jackal&hyde

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I'm quite sure there were articles which cooled our interest in between
I don't think so, not for attacking options. From the beginning he was nr. 1 but attention was moved to defense and midfield. Us going hard for Antony is the least surprising thing this summer.
 

Traub

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Its quite obvious were trying to work on a replacement asap but Chelsea are making things rather difficult.
Yip seems so, but United fecked it up a bit by leaving it so late. Compare this with when Madrid bought Bale - Spurs bought half of Europe before the transfer went through.
 

Real Name

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Gillespie was a troubled lad. I think Fergie knew he had crazy potential but he had to get away from here to try and fulfil it.
I was watching a documentary Rise of the Premier league just yesterday and its a sad story really. Gillespie said he still has a gambling problem and it was obvious how regretful he looked while waching his old videos.
 

jackal&hyde

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Also, I agree and understand the frustration of Ajax fans. But what constitutes a big reason for this issue, is that they've lost a lot of players this summer. Antony was linked with United and ETH from day one so pretending like it came out of nothing is not fair. If it's too late, then fair enough, but it was always going to be like this. Look on the bright side, it can be one of the most expensive transfers ever.
 

captaincantona

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Keith leaving had nothing to do with the poxy 3 man rule, as remember Uefa's regulations decreed that clubs could field only three foreign players plus two "assimilated" players who had come through their youth set-up which Keith did, and as for him "having" a better career under Fergie, you have no way of proving that as, hmm Lee Sharpe, Fergie couldn't control his party lifestyle, just like he couldn't with Yorkie either hence why both were shown the door, so to say he would have thrived under Fergie is madness gone mad.

He was let leave due to Beckham's rising in Fergie's eyes, and don't forget just 10 months later a ruling came in by the EU not little UEFA in terms of those two, in stopping that 3 player ruling, which was deemed a breach of the 1992 Maastricht treaty and saw the end of it with the Bosman ruling Dec 95.
https://www.manutd.com/en/amp/news/...-on-his-man-utd-career-during-mutv-group-chat

try be a little less arrogant in your response. Keith himself has a different view and if Fergie was in any way swayed by Beckham coming through he wouldn’t have tried to buy Gillespie back.

Finally, it’s no beyond the pale to say that a great man manager such as Ferguson, who was famed for knowing how to handle players between professional and personal challenges, would have been a positive influence on the careers of those players. Your examples of Yorke and Sharpe are just odd and not comparable as they had great careers with Utd. They struggled once they left. You are in a club of one with a view that troubled players possibly thriving under Ferguson is “madness gone mad” - Cantona would like a word.

it’s one thing being wrong…but you did it in such an arrogant and emphatic way. A bit embarrassing for you that.
 
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VP89

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I don't think so, not for attacking options. From the beginning he was nr. 1 but attention was moved to defense and midfield. Us going hard for Antony is the least surprising thing this summer.
Is that why we enquired about the likes of Morata and Arnautovic?
I think whats become evident is there is money left given Frenkie will not happen, and they have very lately decided that should now go toward Antony. Ajax and their fanbase are rightly aggrieved by that.

If Frenkie became a goer it would happen over Antony. But we would not be doing both.
 

Remember the geese

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As Martial struggles to stay fit, adding him as soon as possible is vital.
A €100m striker would be needed even more than Antony, seeing as Martial looks incapable of staying fit. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any available. We do need Antony too though obviously.
 

jackal&hyde

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Is that why we enquired about the likes of Morata and Arnautovic?
I think whats become evident is there is money left given Frenkie will not happen, and they have very lately decided that should now go toward Antony. Ajax and their fanbase are rightly aggrieved by that.

If Frenkie became a goer it would happen over Antony. But we would not be doing both.
I don't know about the Morata stuff nor Arnautovic. IMO they were most likely just discussions that agents decided to make public but little more.

Look, we didn't get de Frenkie, but we got Casemiro for big money; so we can't say that money was not spent and then decided to go for Antony. IMO, we tried to get defense and mid done first and then attack. The Frenkie transfer most likely set us back in terms of timing for sure, but it is what it is. The money was clearly there for both the expensive mid and attacker. We got Berbatov on the las day FFS so it's not like these things don't happen. Antony was a prime target from the day ETH took over and we, and Ajax fans, know it.
 

izec

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A €100m striker would be needed even more than Antony, seeing as Martial looks incapable of staying fit. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any available. We do need Antony too though obviously.
Osimhen is there, and i think he would cost around 100m.

However, i would rather Antony for 100m and Memphis on a free, because we need numbers as well as quality. Once Ronaldo leaves next season, we can focus on a big money striker.
 

captaincantona

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If we get Antony, Rashford just plays up top till Maritial is fit. Sancho is better on the left I reckon anyway. Not ideal…but better than Ronny starting up top.
 

VP89

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I don't know about the Morata stuff nor Arnautovic. IMO they were most likely just discussions that agents decided to make public but little more.
They weren't. Whitwell confirmed Morata was pursued but we walked away over the price. Arnautovic bid was reported across Athletic/BBC etc. That's not agent talk.
 
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