Antony Matheus dos Santos (better known simply as Antony) is a Brazilian international football player who recently joined Premier League club Manchester United for a reported fee of £85.5 million. The 22-year-old winger left Eredivisie club Ajax to join the Red Devils in August 2022.
Can his appearance help shore up United’s attack? While some think he is the perfect addition to the squad, others have their reservations about his potential to change the club’s fortunes.
Who is Antony?
Antony is a Brazilian international footballer who plays for Premier League side Manchester United. He made the switch to the Red Devils in August 2022 after leaving Eredivisie side Ajax. The 22-year-old winger was born in February 2000 in Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil.
He began his youth career playing for Sao Paulo from 2010 to 2018 before joining the senior team in 2020. He then made a move to Ajax, playing 57 games and scoring 20 goals across all competitions from 2020 until 2022. During his time at Ajax, he won two Eredivisie titles (the top league in men’s professional football in the Netherlands) and one KNVB Cup.
He also won a gold medal with the Brazil under-23 team at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He showed loyalty to his former Ajax boss, Erik Ten Hag, by moving to Manchester United just four months after the successful Dutch coach joined the Red Devils.
How likely is it that Man Utd will win the Premier League?
To get a much clearer picture of how likely it is Manchester United will win the 2022/23 Premier League, the best thing to do would be to look to the major sports betting sites, where you can bet on soccer games for the current Premier League campaign. The website also has betting markets for most other major football leagues from around the world, and you will see that Manchester United are currently around fifth favourites to win the league.
In American/Moneyline odds, they are currently priced at +3,300 to win the league outright. When converted into UK fractional odds, this works out to 33/1, and when converted into European decimal odds, it works out to 34.00. In comparison, the favourites, Manchester City, are currently priced at -250 (which is 2/5, or 1.40). In between these clubs, you have Liverpool (currently second favourites to win the Premier League), Arsenal, Tottenham, and Chelsea in that order.
The least favourites to win the 2022/23 season at the time of writing are Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Fulham, with odds ranging from around +250,000 (2,500/1, or 2,501.00) to around +100,000 (1,000/1, or 1,001.00), respectively.
Can Antony balance United’s attack?
Antony is a left-footed winger who is likely to play on the right side for Manchester United. According to Ten Hag, he is the perfect addition to the squad and will be a key player in future plans. The two players that will now have to fight harder to keep their position in the team are Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, but Erik Ten Hag believes that the competition to keep their place in the starting 11 is a positive thing. Antony is a quick player. He has impressive dribbling skills and his accurate passing ability will no doubt have an immediate impact on the team and hopefully improve United’s results.
Manu fixtures and results
Manu lost their opening game 1-2 at home to Brighton and then lost 0-4 away to Brentford. In their third game of the season, they beat Liverpool 2-1 at home and then went on to beat Southampton 2-1 away. On Sunday, 4th September, they play Arsenal at home, and then on Thursday, 8th September, they play their first Europa League game away to Real Sociedad in the group stages.
