INEOS told they’ll look like ‘idiots’ if they sanction one player’s departure – despite fans’ pleas for him to be sold

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Earlier this week, one report revealed Manchester United’s exit route for outcast Antony

Transfer chiefs at Old Trafford will be looking to ship the Brazilian out on loan in the winter window in hopes of him increasing his transfer valuation to any potential suitors, according to the Daily Mail’s Confidential column.

Crystal Palace and Newcastle United are said to be waiting in the wings to potentially bolster their attacks with Antony despite his underwhelming Premier League tenure up to this stage. However, they are only considering welcoming him on a temporary basis. 

Similarly, a mooted option is that the 24-year-old returns to Ajax in 2025 – three years after they recouped a ludicrous £86 million from his departure. Wherever the situation goes from here, there’s no doubt that the deal has etched itself as one of – if not the – worst pieces of business the club have ever done.

United berated for even contemplating Antony’s return to Ajax

Antony may be approaching the end of his Manchester United tenure after just two full seasons.
(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Weighing on the speculation of a potential reunion in Amsterdam, Dutch pundit Bart Sanders believes United would end up looking like ‘complete idiots’ if such a transfer was to materialise. He said (via Football365): “The more serious media have said something about it, but Antony returns to Ajax on loan – I don’t see it happening.

“Manchester United will never do this from a loss of face perspective. As a club, you look like a complete idiot if you sign someone for a hundred million euros and two years later, you rent him back to his old club. That is a loss of face of the highest order, isn’t it?!”

One thing’s for sure amidst all the possible outcomes, he doesn’t have a future at United. 

Antony now finds himself behind younger counterparts Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo in the pecking order, and, as a result, he has featured for only 27 minutes across two appearances in the Premier League this season.

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7 Comments

  1. Nope, INEOS will NOT look like idiots, as they had nothing to do with Antony being signed. INEOS will, in fact, look like they’re trying to rectify past mistakes, of which there is a plethora.

  2. didn’t united do exactly the same with Sancho? then agreed a crazy 25m deal to a rival – the idea that INEOS have shown they have a clue what they are doing is questionable at least, they had access to the statistics about how bad ETH was last season and kept him on.

    Antony is an interesting one as really he should have been a red herring for just how bad ETH would turn out to be – it is clear ETH had no real understanding of the speed of the PL (I will leave aside the rest of his failures)- Antony is just not a fast enough winger for the PL – and despite what Mr. itsallaboutthetraining ten hag says, that is the major problem, not the guys ability or ball skills.

    Now I would try him in the ten, he has a decent enough shot, he has a decent pass on him (when he isn’t utterly knackered from a 20yard sprint) and in the middle his left foot can do more damage as he can pass any way. It won’t happen but I would guess that would be the only option. Instead ETH will just keep playing bruno every game until he is fired.

  3. united did the same thing with sancho and INEOS later agreed to a crazy 25m deal with a rival – the idea that INEOS have started well is questionable to say the least – they had access to the same stats that everyone else did yet kept ETH on.

    Antony should have been the first major red herring with ETH, he is just not fast enough for the PL and it shows ETH had little knowledge of the league. It is strange to hear ETH make it out that antony needs to train harder, training hard will not make him faster, but we know ETH puts a lot of emphasis on training and very little on actual performance on the pitch.

    I think Antony could do a decent job in the ten role as his pace wouldn’t be a major factor, he has decent dribbling skills and an eye for a pass – and his lack of right foot wouldn’t be a major problem as it is on the right wing. this won’t happen ofc ETH will play bruno every single game until he gets sacked.

        1. ha why david? its an opinion and the aim is to get people to ‘talk’ no?

          do you not agree with my point on Antony? he played with ETH for two years and was deemed good enough, he isn’t clearly for a winger anyway, why not try him in the ten? he cost 86m – may as well try get some value out of him. could be a joelinton story, or we sell/loan him back to ajax for peanuts.

  4. Hmm. Well, firstly I do owe you an apology. I was a bit tipsy when I read your (2) posts and at the time my reply struck me as amusing; not so much now – a bit rude.
    But, to answer your post:
    Sancho had to go. He wasn’t performing and his relationship with Ten Hag was toxic, alleged buried hatchets not withstanding.
    A red herring is something that distracts or misleads. I guess you meant red flag.
    I don’t have a problem with Ten Hag being ultra-keen on training, tho we sadly are waiting for this to lead to great on-field play. Neither do I have a problem with ETH playing Bruno, he’s frequently been are best player.
    And I think INEOS have started pretty well, some players that really needed to go have been moved on. Not McTominay – wish he’d stayed.
    And, being honest, after the Cup Final did you think ‘ETH still has to go’? I didn’t, and can understand why INEOS stuck with him. (For the time being, anyway).
    And Antony at number 10? Can’t see it myself, but it’s an interesting opinion. My thought is he’ll be gone in January, yeah: probably for ‘peanuts’ compared with what we paid for him, but you can’t keep an under-performer just because they were expensive to buy.

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