PSV Eindhoven director of football Marcel Brands claims “everyone in football knows” that Antony’s move to Man Utd was “a madness”.
The Red Devils paid around £86m to sign the Brazil international from Eredivisie giants Ajax in the summer following the appointment of Erik ten Hag as their new manager.
Man Utd have had a successful season under the Dutchman so far this season but the huge fee spent on Antony has been criticised by many.
Although the Brazilian has scored seven goals in 28 matches in all competitions, Antony has failed to contribute any assists with the 23-year-old coming in for lots of criticism for his lack of teamwork to track back.
And now former Everton director of football Brands thinks there were a number of better options around for Man Utd when they bought Antony in the summer.
“If you compare it with transfers that were realistic, such as that of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City to Arsenal: that was also around that rate,” Brands told BNR’s The Friday Move (via Voetbal Primeur).
“Those are normal amounts. I think everyone in football knows that Antony was a madness.
“I think Raphinha (Leeds United to Barcelona) is an even better player than Antony, but he left for much less.”
After Antony scored against Real Betis in the Europa League on Thursday night, Ten Hag said of his performance: “I don’t think he can only do it in Europa League because he scored in his first three games in Premier League.
“But in the first half, he could do better to make more actions, be more brave, go more behind, taking players on, more movement, using his speed. The second-half performance was much better, he made a great goal, an important goal.”
Speaking in January, former Premier League striker Darren Bent described the Man Utd winger as “all tricks and flicks” without any “substance”.
Bent told talkSPORT: “All tricks and flicks, no substance at the minute.
“He’s doing all this stuff but he’s not going past anyone. It’s not like he’s doing a trick to manipulate the ball to go past someone, he’s just doing it for the sake of it.
“A little bit like the spin, at the time I was like ‘ah come on it’s only a spin’.
“You clip all the best bits of a footballer and you look at it on YouTube and go ‘wow, I can’t believe we’re signing him!’
“But where’s the substance in between, where’s the end product? I know he started off alright at United, couple of good goals, but where’s…
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