Antony now on course to become '£80m flop' at Man Utd

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·2 de noviembre de 2023

Antony now on course to become '£80m flop' at Man Utd

Manchester United star Antony is in danger of becoming an '£80million flop', and journalist Dean Jones has told GIVEMESPORT what the Brazilian needs to do in order to get his Old Trafford career back on track.

Having been appointed as the Red Devils' boss last year, following a trophy-laden stint in the Ajax dugout, Erik ten Hag earmarked sealing a reunion with Antony as one of his primary objectives.

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But the winger, who joined in a deal worth slightly more than an initial £80million, has struggled to rediscover his best form since swapping Ajax for Manchester United.

Antony maintains Ten Hag support amid struggles

Ten Hag has backed Antony to show improvements in his performances over the course of the coming weeks, according to the Manchester Evening News, having allowed his levels to drop since the campaign got underway.

The report suggests the Dutch tactician, who has led Manchester United to 49 wins following his arrival at the helm, feels the 23-year-old's displays have been impacted by off-the-pitch matters.

Antony only came back into the fold recently after being told to stay away from the club due to legal allegations being made against him in September, which resulted in being placed on a leave of absence on full pay.

Although the former Sao Paulo talisman returned to contention a matter of weeks later, with Manchester United announcing he was allowed to head back to their Carrington training ground, he has been unable to make vital contributions on the pitch.

Antony is still searching for his first goal or assist of the campaign, having made 10 appearances, while he has now been shown a yellow card more times than the amount of occasions he has found the back of the net since linking up with the Red Devils.

Transfer insider Jones recently told GIVEMESPORT that Ajax will be laughing at being able to persuade Manchester United to spend such a lucrative fee after watching his struggles from afar following his Johan Cruyff Arena departure.

That paints a bleak picture of how the his Red Devils career has gone so far, while he was only handed a 2/10 match rating by Goal as ten Hag's side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle United on Wednesday.

Antony's underwhelming performance came a matter of days after he also showed petulance during the final stages of the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, with club legend Gary Neville describing him as 'embarrassing' after taking a swipe at Jeremy Doku.

Dean Jones update - Antony

Jones believes the Manchester derby highlighted how Antony can lose his temper incredibly quickly when he needs to keep a cool head, while numerous teammates are also guilty of the same trait.

The respected journalist feels the South American, who is on a contract worth £200,000-per-week at Old Trafford, needs to focus his energy on making a telling impact in the final third of the pitch if he does not want to be viewed as a waste of money by the Manchester United fanbase.

Jones told GIVEMESPORT:

"There have been a couple of glimpses of him being capable of magical moments. But, typically, I think the end of that Manchester derby summed him up. He is getting wound up about the wrong things. "Manchester United were showing false fight at the end of that game. They're getting wound up by situations they can't control. "If they could show that anger and implement that frustration into their actual gameplay when the game is still alive, fine. But Antony has got to find a way of focusing his energy into his actual performances because, at the moment, he is going to be an £80m flop."

Four-time Champions League winner in talks over Man United job

Manchester United have held verbal discussions with the agent of Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, according to Spanish sources, ahead of potentially offering him the chance to replace ten Hag in the Old Trafford hot-seat.

But the Red Devils could struggle in their attempts to secure the 64-year-old, who already has 73 Premier League wins under his belt thanks to spells at the Chelsea and Everton helm, as the report suggests he has also received offers from the Brazil and Canada national teams.

Ancelotti has previously confirmed he was handed the chance to manage Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed his retirement from management, but he snubbed the opportunity due to being on the brink of clinching the top job at Real Madrid a decade ago.

The Italian tactician has an eye-catching CV, with him having the 10th best points-per-game ratio for Premier League managers, while he has also won the Champions League on four occasions along with the domestic title in five different countries over the course of his glittering career.

, with sections of the fanbase being keen to see the alteration take place in the coming months.