Manchester United have completed the signing of Brazilian winger Antony from Ajax for a fee of £86m.
The 22-year-old has signed a contract until 2027, with the option of an additional year, and is in line to make his home debut in Sunday’s televised Sky Sports clash with Arsenal.
The move to United sees Antony reunited with ex-Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, who has already signed defender Lisandro Martinez from his former club, and Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord.
Antony scored 25 goals in 82 games for Ajax since joining under Ten Hag’s reign from Sao Paolo in 2020. He also has two goals and two assists in nine games for Brazil. He has won two Eredivisie titles and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Antony becomes United’s third most expensive signing after Paul Pogba (£93.3m) and Romelu Lukaku (£90m).
Ajax boss Schreuder on Antony’s ‘strange’ strike
Ahead of his move to Old Trafford and with Ajax having rejected repeated bids from United, Antony refused to play in Ajax’s last two games as he looked to push for a Premier League move.
The Brazilian winger also publicly expressed his desire to leave, via Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano, as the two clubs lowered a fee.
Ajax manager Alfred Schreuder, who took over from Ten Hag this summer, said his behavior had been “strange” and would have fined him if the player had stayed in the Netherlands beyond the summer deadline.
“It’s unfortunate that it happened,” Schreuder said. “It’s bad. I think it’s weird. He was finally told about it.
“I’m angry about it. I think: “You’re just a player. You just have to do your thing.”
“Absolutely, I could be fined. I don’t think it’s good that it’s possible [for him to behave like that] within our club.”
Why Antony is Ten Hag’s man
“For sure, we hope he will be the next star for Ajax.” It was July 2020 and Erik ten Hag, Ajax’s manager at the time, was introducing Antony, the club’s new £20m signing from Sao Paulo.
“We at Ajax are always trying to fight to get to the top,” Ten Hag added. “So I hope he will do his best to meet that level of expectation. The rest, we’ll see in the future.”
Ten Hag was right to expect big things from Antony – the Brazilian, just 19 when he agreed to his move to Amsterdam, quickly established himself as one of Ajax’s key players, but even he couldn’t have predicted that he would one day take him to Manchester United. too.
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