Ex-Premier League owner slams ‘waste of money’ Manchester United signing

Erik ten Hag signing Antony has been accused of bringing ‘nothing’ to Manchester United by a former Premier League owner.

Antony became one of the most expensive signings in Premier League history when he completed an £82m move to Old Trafford from Ajax in 2022.

The Brazilian winger scored 24 goals and made 22 assists in 82 appearances for Ajax and played under Ten Hag before the manager left to join United.

Given his impact for Ajax – where he also scored seven goals in 11 Champions League games – Antony was expected to flourish at Manchester United but that has failed to materialise.

Antony registered just five Premier League goals across his first two seasons at Old Trafford and is yet to start a league game so far this term, although he did open his account for the campaign in the 7-0 Carabao Cup thrashing over League One side Barnsley.

Ten Hag recently admitted Antony was growing ‘impatient’ over his reduced role at United but former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes he needs to do way more to save his Premier League career.

‘Of course there is a pressure and of course there is an expectation because if you spend big money on players, naturally you expect big outcomes,’ he told talkSPORT.

‘If a £25m footballer doesn’t succeed there’s less noise around it. In this instance, with Antony, at £25m he would have been a bad buy because he’s been poor and everything about him has been poor.

‘He’s brought nothing. What has he brought to Manchester United beside headlines? Certainly nothing on the football field.

‘So at £25m you would be saying it’s a waste of money, at £85m you’ve got to look at the manager and ask why he bought him, especially as he knew him.’

Ten Hag praised Antony’s performance against Barnsley and said he ‘would not hesitate’ to consider starting him in Manchester United’s next Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace this weekend.

‘He fought for his place,’ Ten Hag said. ‘First of all, he earned it [in] training and, today, on the pitch, he showed he is with us and he wants to fight for his place.

‘He had some good actions. He showed he can deal with this, with the pressure, and I think that’s a good sign.’

On Saturday evening United face a Crystal Palace side who are still searching for their first Premier League win of the new season.

Oliver Glasner’s side have drawn their last two games – against Leicester City and Chelsea – following two successive defeats.

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