Manchester United winger Antony could have been a Liverpool player if he hadn’t acted “like an idiot”. The 24-year-old Brazilian has been hugely underwhelming since his £82million transfer to the Premier League from Ajax in the summer of 2022.
With Erik ten Hag, the man who brought him from Amsterdam to Manchester, now gone, Antony’s future at Old Trafford is uncertain. But during the 2021/22 season, Antony was one of Europe’s most sought-after wingers.
His trickery with the ball and eye for goal attracted interest from not just United, but also Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona and PSG. United eventually managed to secure his services, but things could have been different if Mohamed Salah had left Anfield earlier that summer.
According to The Times, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp considered Antony as a potential replacement for the Egyptian, who was in the final year of his contract and remained undecided about signing an extension.
Salah ultimately stayed after receiving a whopping £350,000-a-week contract offer, ending Liverpool’s interest in Antony. But the Reds may have decided against signing him anyway, especially after his antics during an Ajax game on March 2022 against Feyenoord.
After scoring a late dramatic winner, the former Sao Paulo player removed his shirt to celebrate. That resulted in him being sent off with a second yellow card, bringing with it a one-match suspension.
After the match, Dutch pundit Rene van der Gijp said Antony’s behaviour was a bad look and might even ward off potential suitors. He asked on Vadaag Inside: “Suppose we are in the stands together as a scout for Manchester City or Liverpool… and we are looking at Antony, what do you think we would say when we come back on Monday
We will not take that. You don’t see a Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane or Mohamed Salah doing this. Then you can say, ‘He is young’. But it can also get crazier.”
Van der Gijp’s colleague, Wim Kieft, felt the same way, adding: “He is not that young anymore, because he has been doing this for two years. Such a boy cannot be calmed by a coach, in the end
Ten Hag will of course never say that Antony behaves like an idiot, but he thinks so. In general, this behaviour is addressed in the locker room. Then someone says, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’”
Since joining United, Antony has only scored five goals in 56 Premier League matches. He has found himself sitting on the bench for much of this season, having only started once across all competitions
The arrival of Ruben Amorim marks a pivotal moment for Antony. It offers him the chance of a fresh start, but if the Portuguese coach doesn’t fancy him, he could well be flogged at the earliest opportunity.
In Amorim’s first training session at Carrington on Monday, the manager guided the players through a 3-4-3 build-up drill. Antony was spotted playing as a right wing-back, suggesting that a new role could be in store for the Brazilian.
