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

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Spot on in an ideal world we would have 4 options for two spaces who offer you something a little different.
Before J Sancho joined we had Rashford, Martial, D James, J Lingard, M Greenwood. Rashford direct pacey could play inverted striker or play 9 or 10, Martial similar but more of a ball to feet player. Greenwood could play anywhere accross front 4 positions but was quick left footed and could make things happen on his own, Lingard could play narrow and deeper and Daniel James was a true winger, hugging the touch line with wrecking ball pace, allowing you to play him as a counter attacking weapon or he could be deployed as almost like another wing back in a low block then spring at lightning speed.

These options are why we finished 3rd and 2nd from 19/20 to 20/21. We need Antony and I’m not totally sold on A Elanga yet either, I think F Pellistri has a much higher ceiling and could be an updated version of Daniel James. So Rashford, Sancho, Pellistri, Antony and A Garnaucho that excites me and gives us all the options for the 55-60 games we might play this season with the new 5 substitutes rule. Antony is a critical transfer for the club and more importantly the Manager.
I actually really like Amad as a player and I think that Garnacho (although left sided), could potentially be a really good player. However, our rivals have a set of three consisting of Foden, Mahrez, Grealish, Diaz, Salah, Jota, Son, Richarlison, Kulusevski etc. We quite simply do not have an established third option and it is very much needed.
 
I wouldn't write us off getting him just yet. We do need at least one attacking player of some description whether that be a wide player or a striker.

Ideally we are able to sign a RW and a ST (backup if Ronaldo stays or starter if he leaves)
 
Ideally we'd give them cash + Pellistri or Amad. Not sure how realistic that is though
Except for seniors like Berghuis, Bergwijn and Tadic, they've got youngsters like Ihattaren and new 18yo Conceicao. I doubt they actually need a make weight player there.

I'd rather try using Tuanzebe, Telles or Williams.
 
He’s injured until August, isn’t he? I think that couple with what some people have said on page 91 could see us coming back in for him later in the window
 
I actually really like Amad as a player and I think that Garnacho (although left sided), could potentially be a really good player. However, our rivals have a set of three consisting of Foden, Mahrez, Grealish, Diaz, Salah, Jota, Son, Richarlison, Kulusevski etc. We quite simply do not have an established third option and it is very much needed.
Imagine if Sancho tears an ACL in September. We'll finish outside top10 with Rashford, Elanga and two other kids who couldn't get regular games at Rangers or Alaves. :lol:
 
He’s injured until August, isn’t he? I think that couple with what some people have said on page 91 could see us coming back in for him later in the window

Yeah think there is a real possibility of that
 
Imagine if Sancho tears an ACL in September. We'll finish outside top10 with Rashford, Elanga and two other kids who couldn't get regular games at Rangers or Alaves. :lol:
It is a priority among a whole list of priorities. Unfortunately we can't sort everything in one window, so there will be a hole or two somewhere regardless.
 
It is a priority among a whole list of priorities. Unfortunately we can't sort everything in one window, so there will be a hole or two somewhere regardless.
If Erik counts Eriksen as a CM and Frenkie as a DM in his system we'll hopefully cover most of the priorities in this window already.

LB - Malacia
CB - Martínez
DM - Frenkie
CM - Eriksen
RW - Antony

GK - 23/24 Sánchez
RB - 23/24 Timber/Dumfries
ST - 23/24 Nkunku
 
Can’t understand why we just didn’t negotiate for both at the same time or can we not even work on 2 transfers from the same team.
 
If Erik counts Eriksen as a CM and Frenkie as a DM in his system we'll hopefully cover most of the priorities in this window already.

LB - Malacia
CB - Martínez
DM - Frenkie
CM - Eriksen
RW - Antony

GK - 23/24 Sánchez
RB - 23/24 Timber/Dumfries
ST - 23/24 Nkunku

Still think we might go for a RB in this window, would class De Jong as a DLP not DM.
 
Can’t understand why we just didn’t negotiate for both at the same time or can we not even work on 2 transfers from the same team.

Don't you remember the reports about him having an agreement to not raid their team
 
If Erik counts Eriksen as a CM and Frenkie as a DM in his system we'll hopefully cover most of the priorities in this window already.

LB - Malacia
CB - Martínez
DM - Frenkie
CM - Eriksen
RW - Antony

GK - 23/24 Sánchez
RB - 23/24 Timber/Dumfries
ST - 23/24 Nkunku
Yeah, agreed. A top quality coach can go a long way to solving what many will have perceived as deep rooted flaws in the squad. When you add in the new additions too, then even better.

I also agree with you about the potential positions in need for 23/24 too. Though I'm hopeful of course that ten Hag's coaching may do wonders for De Gea, Dalot and Martial. However, he isn't a miracle worker.
 
Can’t understand why we just didn’t negotiate for both at the same time or can we not even work on 2 transfers from the same team.
It's not that hard to understand. Your transfer kitty was always reported around £120m. You're still after Frenkie and by signing Martinez and Malacia you basicly spent your whole kitty. There's no cash left to go for Antony, unless you're selling players first or you're moving on from chasing Frenkie.
 
Still think we might go for a RB in this window, would class De Jong as a DLP not DM.

I believe in Ten Hag's system there's not too much of a difference. De Jong would be a Busquets/Rodri type of DM.

When you really land Antony and Frenkie, that's a real top team you've accumulated. Think United right now is one of the most exciting projects in football.
 
I believe in Ten Hag's system there's not too much of a difference. De Jong would be a Busquets/Rodri type of DM.

When you really land Antony and Frenkie, that's a real top team you've accumulated. Think United right now is one of the most exciting projects in football.
Realistically don't you think we are at least 4 players short from being an exciting project. I understand accumulating the right players takes time...but we still need a quality RB a CM after Frenkie, a solide striker and I would think a top CDM to allow Frenkie to play freely.
 
I believe in Ten Hag's system there's not too much of a difference. De Jong would be a Busquets/Rodri type of DM.

When you really land Antony and Frenkie, that's a real top team you've accumulated. Think United right now is one of the most exciting projects in football.
If we sign both Antony and de Jong on top of what we've already signed, then that would represent the most exciting transfer window since Fergie was at the helm.

And our net spend thus far with the 3 arrivals is about £50m. The potential is there to sign both Antony and de Jong imo, and we'll likely make several sales, as well.
 
Don't you remember the reports about him having an agreement to not raid their team
Sorry, but 2 players is not raiding the team, it's pretty much the bare minimum I would expect from a departing manager, who are always going to want to bring some players as allies that know their system.
 
Realistically don't you think we are at least 4 players short from being an exciting project. I understand accumulating the right players takes time...but we still need a quality RB a CM after Frenkie, a solide striker and I would think a top CDM to allow Frenkie to play freely.

Of course, for me the project spans multiple windows :) I think you still have a few weak positions, especially RB, but a good system can cover that. I remember when Pep was playing I believe Delph at LB. The team is still pretty nice. Sancho, Ronaldo/Rashford, Antony, Eriksen, de Jong, Bruno/van de Beek are a very nice line up.

If we sign both Antony and de Jong on top of what we've already signed, then that would represent the most exciting transfer window since Fergie was at the helm.

And our net spend thus far with the 3 arrivals is about £50m. The potential is there to sign both Antony and de Jong imo, and we'll likely make several sales, as well.

Would love to see that happening. This window would be the right time to spend big. And they players you're linked with to me seem much worthier of ridiculously high fees than your signings of the past (Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Pogba, ...)
 
I believe in Ten Hag's system there's not too much of a difference. De Jong would be a Busquets/Rodri type of DM.

When you really land Antony and Frenkie, that's a real top team you've accumulated. Think United right now is one of the most exciting projects in football.

Still have to land those two which seems a long way off yet due to multiple factors
 
Of course, for me the project spans multiple windows :) I think you still have a few weak positions, especially RB, but a good system can cover that. I remember when Pep was playing I believe Delph at LB. The team is still pretty nice. Sancho, Ronaldo/Rashford, Antony, Eriksen, de Jong, Bruno/van de Beek are a very nice line up.



Would love to see that happening. This window would be the right time to spend big. And they players you're linked with to me seem much worthier of ridiculously high fees than your signings of the past (Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Pogba, ...)
Completely agree.

It's the first since Fergie retired where we're actually signing players for a modern progressive way of playing the game. And like you said, I'd rather see us pay over the odds for players who suit the head coach's way of playing a proactive attacking brand of football, rather than what we saw before where we signed players for managers who looked to contain and then react on the counter.
 
Antony is great. Left footed winger playing on the right side.
But realistically Ajax will demand a hefty price for him.
A similar player we perhaps should look at is Moussa Diary from Leverkusen.?
 
Would love to sign him

We’re so short on attack even with Ronaldo we are desperate for attackers.
 
Seems the pace of this thread has gone rapidly downhill
I think the fact he's injured and not able to make preseason anyway, there's no particular rush to get him in. We can focus on other deals in the meantime. Atleast, that's what I'm hoping.
 
Starting to get the feeling you'll end up with Antony in the end of the window. If we sign Brobbey and Conceicao we really have a lot of attackers.

After you've sold Ronaldo I can see United having the financial space to sign Antony. Bergwijn was never a replacement for Antony, but Conceicao is and Ihattaren has been doing well in pre-season as well. At this point I do feel Ajax is preparing that a deal might happen at the end of the window.
What's the feeling of Ajax fans towards United/ETH at the moment? We've pinched your manager, bought one player, almost bought another and linked with Antony.
 
Imagine if Sancho tears an ACL in September. We'll finish outside top10 with Rashford, Elanga and two other kids who couldn't get regular games at Rangers or Alaves. :lol:
Loans don’t always mean much if a player goes to a team that doesn’t suit their style of play. See Harry Kane etc
 
Ahmad’s loan to Rangers was madness. He needed a team that plays a passing game.
 
What's the feeling of Ajax fans towards United/ETH at the moment? We've pinched your manager, bought one player, almost bought another and linked with Antony.
Said some time ago that a part of the fanbase was getting annoyed cause of the interest in multiple players that Ajax had no intention of selling. That is not such a problem, but still going after those players without paying up and unsettling the players in the meanwhile gets people pissed.

We know players are going to leave us. However EtH knows very well which players Ajax have no intention of selling. Think most fans can understand he wants to take one or two players. If he really needs specifically those players, we can accept it if a good price is met. But trying to lowball us into selling a player we don't want to lose and possibly turning the player against us to get the deal done won't be appreciated at all. With the negotiations of Martinez dragging so long, reports rising that Martinez might force move, some people were starting to get angry.

Obviously you've now paid a very high fee for Martinez. Most Ajax fans realise Ajax can't say no to this and don't have hard feelings about it. We prefer to keep the player, but if we're compensated like this we know this is how it goes sometimes.

Same with Antony. We really want to keep him. He also has a long term contract; which means Ajax have every right to ask a very high fee. If you pay that then most people won't be happy we lose yet another star player, but there won't be any grudges as we're being compensated very well for selling a star player that we wanted and could afford to keep. If you're going to try to get him for a lower fee and use tactics to unsettle the player and his relationship with the club, then United/EtH will lose a lot of respect.
 
The only new news on this is Liverpool are looking to pick him up from what I’ve seen? Also read United have been pulled away by Murtagh.

Is there much going on here or not?!
 
Ajax already preparing for his exit by purchasing Francisco Conceição. I don’t rate him too highly however for the fee they paid for him (5M) it is a no brainer and a low risk/high reward move by Ajax.

Porto are in a financial free fall and have sold all their key players.
 
We paid around £70m for Sancho last year and I don’t expect us to go above £60M for Antony.
 
Said some time ago that a part of the fanbase was getting annoyed cause of the interest in multiple players that Ajax had no intention of selling. That is not such a problem, but still going after those players without paying up and unsettling the players in the meanwhile gets people pissed.

We know players are going to leave us. However EtH knows very well which players Ajax have no intention of selling. Think most fans can understand he wants to take one or two players. If he really needs specifically those players, we can accept it if a good price is met. But trying to lowball us into selling a player we don't want to lose and possibly turning the player against us to get the deal done won't be appreciated at all. With the negotiations of Martinez dragging so long, reports rising that Martinez might force move, some people were starting to get angry.

Obviously you've now paid a very high fee for Martinez. Most Ajax fans realise Ajax can't say no to this and don't have hard feelings about it. We prefer to keep the player, but if we're compensated like this we know this is how it goes sometimes.

Same with Antony. We really want to keep him. He also has a long term contract; which means Ajax have every right to ask a very high fee. If you pay that then most people won't be happy we lose yet another star player, but there won't be any grudges as we're being compensated very well for selling a star player that we wanted and could afford to keep. If you're going to try to get him for a lower fee and use tactics to unsettle the player and his relationship with the club, then United/EtH will lose a lot of respect.
Yeah, I can understand that and generally prefer transfers to be amicable rather than the player becoming disgruntled. What would you consider an acceptable fee for Antony?
 
It's not that hard to understand. Your transfer kitty was always reported around £120m. You're still after Frenkie and by signing Martinez and Malacia you basicly spent your whole kitty. There's no cash left to go for Antony, unless you're selling players first or you're moving on from chasing Frenkie.
We just sold Periera for the price we paid for Malacia, we have now signed Martinez for 50 odd million, what's happened to the other 70 million?

This 120 million kitty is cobblers anyway.

Edited to say I have just realised you are including the De Jong fee. My bad. Although I think De Jong won't be happening anyway.
 
Your Maths is a hell of a way off.

We just sold Periera for the price we paid for Malacia, we have now signed Martinez for 50 odd million, what's happened to the other 70 million?

This 120 million kitty is cobblers anyway.

Edited to say I have just realised you are including the De Jong fee. My bad. Although I think De Jong won't be happening anyway.

He has said that this money is clearly reserved for De Jong.

That said, I have also never bought that 120m thing for a second, and actually fully expect us to buy Antony for something close to Ajax’ asking price anyway.
 
Yeah, I can understand that and generally prefer transfers to be amicable rather than the player becoming disgruntled. What would you consider an acceptable fee for Antony?
Reports saying Ajax would ask €80m, which is very high. Ajax have no reason to sell him for a decent price at this point. As said, he has a long term contract and he has so much potential. His stats don't warrant €80m yet, but as said he does have all the potential. With a 3 year contract, Ajax has the time to wait for him to explode.

With another CL season and WC stage to show himself, it's not unrealistic to expect his value to rise in the next 12 months. He's seriously competing for a starting 11 spot in the Brazil NT. If he does not show exceptional things in the next season, Ajax can still ask a more reasonable price a year from now.

That's why I don't think Ajax will come down a lot from the reported €80m price tag. Especially after losing yet another player in Martinez. And quite frankly, if €67m is paid for Martinez, it's going to he hard convincing Ajax that Antony isn't worth €80m. Antony is an attacker and younger. If Antony is going I'd say it's going to be for €75m at least. Yes, this is a very high price tag for his number until now, but I gave the reasons for it above. Like with Martinez, Ajax holds leverage. With Antony even more.
 
We just sold Periera for the price we paid for Malacia, we have now signed Martinez for 50 odd million, what's happened to the other 70 million?

This 120 million kitty is cobblers anyway.

Edited to say I have just realised you are including the De Jong fee. My bad. Although I think De Jong won't be happening anyway.
I don't know. Given the targets chased and offers made I'd say the reported £120m (+ money received from sales), does seem to add up.

With selling Pereira and maybe some others you'll be selling I could see you raising enough cash to make another big transfer. Already stated that I expect you back for Antony if you manage to sell Ronaldo.
 
I'm pretty confident we won't be in for him, too expensive and we won't want to piss Ajax off.
 
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