Antony | Here we go! €100mill, contract until June 2027, option 'til 2028.

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Andycoleno9 said:
After not spending much, all of sudden we are oreoared to spend 150 mil on two players? Without selling a single player? I don't think that this is true
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We already had more than the Casemiro cost committed to FDJ. If we assume that deal doesn't happen, we've then spent less than we expected in that position and have more to apwnd elsewhere.

And as was we hadn't actually spent that much yet. Particularly in the context of the huge amount of money that left our wage bill this summer.
 
Without knowing too much about this player: could it be that goals are something that he adds to his overall game as he develops? 22 is a young age and he's averaging about 1 in 3 or 4 over his last two seasons. Maybe a front 3 of him, Sancho, plus our CF (whether it's Ronaldo this season or someone else in the longer term) can potentially develop into a threatening looking forward line.

I'm on the fence with this one, but only for the reason that I'm not sure of the player's calibre and how that can translate to an improvement in results/getting goals. The question that should be asked is "If not Antony, then who?" Who else is able to give us what we need in that position.

If any opportunity comes up to get a new striker/CF, then I would maybe prioritise that. But, this is a spot in the squad that needs addressing, and if ETH and the club feel that this is the right player who can take us forward, then so be it.
 
MUnchies said:
I am so confused now. Before and after our two loses people on here having been going crazy about needing to sign about five players at least to the point that the Ralf Rangnick thread has been bumped about 20 pages, talking about how justified he was. The club then feels the pressure and are now spending the money the fans say belong to the club not their pockets and we have people complaining about fees?

After our start to the season I am surprised people are fussed about fees. If they are quality and will take us up levels who cares?
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It grates on people to see us being ripped off, as per their perception. The problem, however, is that we needed to make our moves decisively as soon as the window opened. We tried to be clever and invite brinkmanship into the equation, but that only works when your need is less than the party you’re negotiating with; when the threat of walking away or simply pursuing someone else is real. Basically, we’re amateurs playing a hand of poker with players far better than us who could see our bluffs a mile off and were perfectly relaxed in calling them whenever they had to. In fact, Ajax have double-bluffed and turned down our offer… knowing we’ll be back with another.

If you analyse it, we look really bad, but the time for reflection so that this doesn’t happen again is not now.
 
Is this lad the real deal? £80mil + £20mil in addons is utterly utterly mental for a player from dutch league.

If it goes through and he flops. It will be one of the biggest flops ever. Not even capped by brasil yet and they hand out caps like sweets.
 
OverratedOpinion said:
As a great coach who needs a competent director of football. Sort of where he has been for the past couple of years.

I wouldn't blame him personally.
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I think this may be true.

We will see how it pans out. They could all be great.

It's more a reflection of our existing structure that ETH has to keep going back to Holland for his players.

But he is sticking his neck on the line in doing so - even though its probably out of necessity. If United don't perform and the players who are seen to be "his" flop, then he will be in a tough spot.
 
HookedOnAPhelan said:
The celebrated recruitment department of Liverpool have done just that twice in the last 7 months (and one of them wasn't even that young).

As much as I want Antony, I think we need another midfielder and RB more than a RW though. But you can't get everything I suppose.
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Who have they signed for 100M?
 
theklr said:
Yeah, so it was 15 m difference we may not have had at that time
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That is not an issue, a difference of 15m is not going to be a big deal for us. This is just panic setting in after an awful start and pressure mounting on the owners, while we wasted the entire window.
 
dinostar77 said:
Is this lad the real deal? £80mil + £20mil in addons is utterly utterly mental for a player from dutch league.

If it goes through and he flops. It will be one of the biggest flops ever. Not even capped by brasil yet and they hand out caps like sweets.
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Not pounds mate.
 
TheNewEra said:
I'm saying any young prospect in general you don't really move to a league and the first season is explosive. It's never that easy.

Any top player you might see flashes and that's it. Even Ronaldo coming to United the first time he was annoying to watch at times the first 2 years.

Antony is obviously older, we don't know his ceiling but I expect good things but not great things the first year, maybe the first 2.

You're either going to sign a Casemiro at age 30 and get 2 years, or show patience and buy a 20 year old and wait for a few seasons for them to come good. United need to balance both.

Liverpool obviously bought Salah, Firminho, Mane at 26, 25, 26 respectively and they had experience at the top level. They had played in the league so it didn't take them as long but they also need replacing faster so it's how you balance your squad.

Antony yes obviously is a risk but sometimes you have to pay the money, look at Amad for example. Potential but still skinny, still needs a few seasons on loan.
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Firmino was 23 when he joined Liverpool (close to 24), while Mane was 24.

Antony is about 22 and a half. He's right in the same age bracket as PL forwards like Kulusevski, Mount, Havertz, Foden, Nunez, Haaland, Smith-Rowe, and Sancho and 1.5-2 years older than players like Saka, Martinelli, and Greenwood. He deserves some patience in getting adjusted to the league but in terms of age he shouldn't need two years to come good.
 
dinostar77 said:
Is this lad the real deal? £80mil + £20mil in addons is utterly utterly mental for a player from dutch league.

If it goes through and he flops. It will be one of the biggest flops ever. Not even capped by brasil yet and they hand out caps like sweets.
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He has been capped by brazil multiple times and scored a few. Also olympic champion and it looks like he is going to the worldcup.
 
dinostar77 said:
Is this lad the real deal? £80mil + £20mil in addons is utterly utterly mental for a player from dutch league.

If it goes through and he flops. It will be one of the biggest flops ever. Not even capped by brasil yet and they hand out caps like sweets.
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I don't understand what you mean with your part about the Dutch league. Jaap Stam came from the Dutch league. Van Nistelrooy came from there. It's a renowned league for finding young, talented players who then go on to succeed in the Premier League, or La Liga, or Serie A. Ajax aren't some small, unknown football team in the middle of nowhere.
 
dinostar77 said:
Is this lad the real deal? £80mil + £20mil in addons is utterly utterly mental for a player from dutch league.

If it goes through and he flops. It will be one of the biggest flops ever. Not even capped by brasil yet and they hand out caps like sweets.
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Not pounds as mentioned earlier and he also has 9 caps! Should try researching before having a meltdown
 
Sassy Colin said:
Or, theoretically, the opposite, where does that leave Ten Hag?

How about, if Ronaldo scores 50 goals and wins the Ballon D'Or, theoretically ?

You can make up any theoretical argument you like, but what's the point worrying your little head about it when, theoretically, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow?
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I think it's a valid point because ETH is taking a risk in going back to the Dutch league to sign players. If they fail for him, he will get associated with the failure more so than a player that gets bought from anywhere else.

He knows them better than anyone thought, so he must think they can do the job.

My worry though, is that he doesn't know the league, as I think we have witnessed for the past two games.
 
I know absolutely jack about him apart from a few highlights but the impression I get is that he is a Sancho type player. Skillful, technical and an elite playmaker but doesn't have outstanding athletic attributes.

I know gambling on Rashford finding his form or hoping he doesn't get an injury is a big ask but do we need another system dependent player? In an ideal world, in ETH's final form I can see it working but we would have to be playing out of our skins in the current stage to fully utilise his talents.
 
We signed Donny Van De Beek for 40 million pounds from Ajax who is not even starting games for us even after a few seasons.
I hope this signing turns out differently. Casemiro signing is looking extremely frugal by these standards.
 
Superunknown said:
Without knowing too much about this player: could it be that goals are something that he adds to his overall game as he develops?
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Could be.

In the last two season he got 9G/8A & 8G/4A for Ajax.

If both my maths and Fbref are correct, someone like Angel Di Maria was getting 2G/1A and 5G/11A for Benfica at the same age.

If he ended up being a Di Maria level player, would we be particularly disappointed for the money we paid? I don't think so.
 
Unless the market has just completely shifted, which it doesn't seem to have done, 80m for him is absolutely bonkers. The worst examples of overspending this summer will likely be Morgan Gibbs-White, Cucurella, Martinez and Antony if we end up spunking that much on him. West Ham got Scamacca for just North of 30m. Jesus went for 45m.
 
Superunknown said:
I don't understand what you mean with your part about the Dutch league. Jaap Stam came from the Dutch league. Van Nistelrooy came from there. It's a renowned league for finding young, talented players who then go on to succeed in the Premier League, or La Liga, or Serie A. Ajax aren't some small, unknown football team in the middle of nowhere.
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More the price. At £40mil fair enough, but there have been a number of flops out of dutch league recently, our own donny is one.
 
dinostar77 said:
Is this lad the real deal? £80mil + £20mil in addons is utterly utterly mental for a player from dutch league.

If it goes through and he flops. It will be one of the biggest flops ever. Not even capped by brasil yet and they hand out caps like sweets.
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I second this. We cannot do reckless spending of this type, it'll destroy our future. Besides, he's been the Dutch league and that certainly poses significant challenges.
 
rimaldo said:
i believe he will be a shrewd buy and will bring poetry to our flanks, the likes of which has not been seen since giggs.
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Nani and Ronaldo didn't exist
Laurencio said:
He's already much better than Neres, he isn't going to flop like that.
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Neres best seasons more productive. Not sure he recovered from his knee
Castia said:
Antony and Sancho nearly 200m Euro worth of attackers.

You'd expect Mane/Salah numbers for 200m lets be honest
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Never gonna happen.
Nicoseth said:
Maybe we're already spending Sir Jim's money?
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I like where you are going with this
 
RacingClub said:
Nunez could hit €100m if all add-ons are paid.

I don't think Diaz was around half that though and both are rumoured to be on around £100k per week.
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I think everyone in this forum has laugh at the fact they paid that much for Nunez.
 
Absolutely hate this signing if it happens. Why pay it now when we could have paid the 80m earlier in the window. It was the right decision to walk away then. It's bad to go back in for him now.

Nothing has changed about him being likely to fail in England and the enormous pressure that comes with the price tag. I get we've started the season badly but this is just compounding it. Get Pulisic in on loan +buy option and leave this guy until next summer or January.

Massively not worth it. Tremendous overpay. I have serious doubts he'll not be regarded as a flop within a couple years.
 
SAFMUTD said:
I think everyone in this forum has laugh at the fact they paid that much for Nunez.
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I'd expect a similar reaction on opposition forums for this transfer so I hope (for his sake) that he doesn't feel the same pressure that Nunez has because it's a big weight around a young players neck.
 
Powderfinger said:
Firmino was 23 when he joined Liverpool (close to 24), while Mane was 24.

Antony is about 22 and a half. He's right in the same age bracket as PL forwards like Kulusevski, Mount, Havertz, Foden, Nunez, Haaland, Smith-Rowe, and Sancho and 1.5-2 years older than players like Saka, Martinelli, and Greenwood. He deserves some patience in getting adjusted to the league but in terms of age he shouldn't need two years to come good.
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Nor will he be given the time to with a transfer fee like this. The second he has a bad game it’ll be all over Twitter just like we’ve seen with Nunez. Antony will need to hit the ground running, really
 
Powderfinger said:
Firmino was 23 when he joined Liverpool (close to 24), while Mane was 24.

Antony is about 22 and a half. He's right in the same age bracket as PL forwards like Kulusevski, Mount, Havertz, Foden, Nunez, Haaland, Smith-Rowe, and Sancho and 1.5-2 years older than players like Saka, Martinelli, and Greenwood. He deserves some patience in getting adjusted to the league but in terms of age he shouldn't need two years to come good.
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I got the wrong age in that case, I remember Firminho not being too impressed when he joined from Hoffenheim. Mane I got the wrong age I do think that Mane was somewhat proven I remember Van Gaal wanted him.

With Mane is he was an athlete and you knew he could press, Antony is more flair so I think United really need a good defense to play with two wingers in Antony and Sancho
 
Too much money.
Yes I know its not our money, but if we bump up 100m for this guy, then the next club we deal with will be expecting the same crazy money too.
The pressure on Antony with this kind of fee would be huge.

Secondly, I'm sure hes very good - but if hes that good, why is nobody else in for him?
 
Mainoldo said:
Man we are p’ing off everyone like Barcelona.

Love to see it.
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I am a bit confused why people think he is going on strike? He was seen at the club but not training. Isn't it more likely the club is closing in on a deal and he won't be attending training anymore until it is official? Same with Martinez.

He could have gone on strike much earlier in the window, why wait?

Also what is people's obsession with this europeanlad guy? He is just some Ajax fan Twitter account yet his comment section is filled with toxicity. See it sometimes in this thread as well.
 
That fee is so bonkers, I'm inclined not to believe it. I know it's not our money etc. but if we do get him for that price, think it will just continue to hinder us in the market to come with us being an unorganised club that has money to burn.

Spending so much on a player that stats wise hasn't had any exception seasons seems a bit crazy to me but if he does comes, here's hoping he's worth that hype.
 
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