Manchester United’s hierarchy privately admit that they overpaid to sign Antony last summer, according to reports.
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The Brazil international has already shown flashes of his talent since his £85m move from Ajax and has scored five goals in 16 games so far.
But the 22-year-old has already faced huge criticism for some of his displays this campaign under Erik ten Hag and many believe United have not seen a good enough return on their investment.
According to ESPN, United’s board accept they spent too much on Antony from Ajax but maintain there were three major reasons why they agreed to such a big outlay with Ajax.
The report claims that the Red Devils felt there were a lack of alternatives to Antony in his position on the right side of the club’s attack.
United are reported to believe that interest in the Brazil international would have been even higher in the summer, which would have raised the player’s price.
A United source told ESPN: ‘We’ve paid for the player we think he can become, not the one he is now.’
It’s also claimed that United were very much ‘impressed’ by Antony’s motivation to make the move to Old Trafford.
Ajax were unhappy with Antony’s conduct in the weeks leading up to his transfer move to Old Trafford but Ten Hag insisted that his former club were aware of the winger’s desire to leave.
‘Antony’s departure couldn’t have been a surprise for Ajax,’ Ten Hag told VI last month.
‘In January they already knew he would leave in the summer. We had three names on the list for the right forward position, he was already on the list at Manchester United before I arrived.’
‘Antony’s management was very clear to Ajax [in January]. They said: “In 6 months time, Antony will make a transfer”. ‘Then we started working on getting another Brazilian in to replace Antony, and Steven Bergwijn.’
