Antony’s £85m move to Manchester United was a highly criticised transfer at the beginning of the 2022/23 Premier League season, and although he started in the best way possible with a debut goal in a 3-1 win against Arsenal, since then he has failed to live up anywhere near to his huge price tag.
After two years, he’s now struggling to make 20-minute cameos off the bench and on the rare occasion only starts in cup competitions against weaker opposition. It’s beginning to look like there might not be a road to redemption for Antony at Manchester United.
What Happened to the ‘Ajax Antony’?
Antony’s last year at Ajax was his breakout season for the Dutch giants, where he had a stunning campaign across all competitions, playing a key role in a very successful Ajax attack that consisted of players like Sébastien Haller, Dušan Tadić, and David Neres to name a few.
The Brazilian winger showcased his fundamental attributes: dribbling, passing, and flair in key performances that were instrumental in Ajax winning the Eredivisie that year, as well as reaching the round of 16 in the Champions League, with notable performances across all games in the group stages.
Antony played 33 matches in the 2021/2022 season, scoring ten goals and providing 10 assists, which consequently earned him his transfer to Manchester United.
Premier League struggles
The Premier League is widely regarded as the best and most difficult league in the world, where numerous stars have come and gone, struggling to adjust and ultimately not living up to their expectations.
In the Netherlands, Antony was an elite team player, who suited the well-drilled, tactically solid Ajax team that practically operated as one, each player being an integral part of their system.
As for Manchester United, it’s been hard to label us as tactically sound for around 10 years now. Many have described the numerous Manchester United teams of the past decade as squads that lack teamwork and togetherness, which then causes the team to rely on individual brilliance to win games, which is not sustainable.
Antony joined Manchester United in Erik Ten Hag’s first season as manager, as he attempted to rebuild the squad following the underwhelming reign of Ralf Rangnick.
By securing the top 4 and reaching the FA Cup Final, most deemed Ten Hag’s debut campaign a success, United fans all over the globe were excited and hopeful to see it built on in the following season. Many expected Antony to improve as well and start living up to his huge transfer fee after he had ‘settled in’ following his first season in the Premier League.
However, we all know what happened; Ten Hag struggled to shape a clear style and identity for the team, and without our star player of the previous season, Marcus Rashford, performing it made for an extremely disappointing 2023/24 season, with the only saving grace being the FA Cup win which just about saved Ten Hag’s job.
However, Antony was not so lucky, with poor performance after poor performance resulting in him dropping out of the starting XI in this current season and becoming our 4th choice winger.
What will Antony’s future at Manchester United look like?
Manchester United has started the 2024/25 season in a very mediocre fashion and yet again without a clear style of play or effective system in place, thus it is not a structure well catered for a player like Antony. Making his path back to the starting XI look even more difficult.
With Rashford, Garnacho, and Amad competing for the wings, Antony has fallen completely out of favour. It’s looking like Antony is yet another player doomed to be added to the list of costly Manchester United players who underperformed and flopped in the Premier League.
Of course, weirder things have happened in football than an Antony redemption arc, and there is a great player in Antony, he could make a resurgence and prove everyone wrong.
However, the trajectory the situation is going in currently is not very reassuring. We can only sit back and wait to see what Antony’s role will be this season for Manchester United.
