A rather damning report came out this morning about Manchester United’s football director John Murtough. Not only has he upset Sir Alex Ferguson and Nicky Butt in recent years, the article in question suggests the club spent £60m more on Antony that what they initially valued him at before Erik ten Hag took charge.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein has done incredible investigative work to explain what has gone on behind the scenes under Murtough’s ‘leadership’, and it’s hard not to be critical of his body of work since becoming football director. It essentially proves to us all – not that we weren’t already aware – that Manchester United is not being run like it should.
According to the respected outlet, United scouted Antony when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge of the first team. That was when they valued him at around £25m.
The Athletic add that during negotiations with Ajax, Antony’s previous club, United made it clear that the bidding would stop at £60m.
That was until Edwin van der Sar pushed the boat out and ensured that Ajax pocketed £86m for the Brazil international’s signature. A hefty profit for the Dutch giants, who have struggled ever since Ten Hag’s departure.
There’s a lot of negativity surrounding Antony because his end product is lacking for what is expected of a United winger.
Hopefully he gave start performing at a higher level in the New Year to assist with more goals – not just for him, but fellow attackers like Rasmus Hojlund too.
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