Antony to Man Utd: Pundit fears ‘a few good games’ doesn’t hide big worry about Ajax star

Antony is not worth the £84million Manchester United are shelling out to bring him on from Ajax, according to Marco van Basten.

The Red Devils are finally securing a new addition up top for manager Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman has looked to build his team in his mould after taking over in May and the latest signing is the statement.

Brazil hopeful Antony is becoming Man Utd’s second-most expensive signing behind Paul Pogba.

The 22-year-old has scored 24 goals and assisted 22 others in 84 games for Ajax.

According to former Netherlands star Van Basten, though, United, Antony and Ten Hag all have serious questions to answer.

“Antony worth €100m? No, by far no,” the 57-year-old told Ziggo Sport amid increasing talk of the deal.

“Antony hasn’t proven much yet. Of course he played a few good games. But his efficiency has not been high in the last two years.”

The comments come after Van Basten criticised Ajax’s decision to sign Antony from Sao Paolo in Brazil. The Dutchman claimed at the time that “something is wrong” and that the move was “ridiculous”.

Ten Hag helped Antony blossom

However, Ajax continued their reputation of finding and developing some of the world’s best talents with Antony.

And it was Ten Hag that helped him flourish in the Eredivisie, leading to the manager’s recent desire to reunite with him.

Antony has played nine times for Brazil, scoring two goals for his country. He will hope to make it into manager Tite’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Before then, though, he has a lot of settling in to do at Old Trafford, where Ten Hag will no doubt look to take the pressure off him.

Man Utd trend could strike again

Amid the criticism of United’s spending this summer, fans will look towards how Ten Hag’s previous two first-team signings this summer have proven themselves.

New left-back Tyrell Malacia has settled in well, while centre-back Lisandro Martinez has formed a strong bond with Raphael Varane last night.

In fact, the duo’s relationship has forced Man Utd captain Harry Maguire out of the team and onto the bench.

United fans will hope that Ten Hag can make it a hat-trick of players to prove their critics wrong early on in his Old Trafford tenure.