Is Antony the worst value-for-money signing in Premier League history?
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Manchester United paid Ajax €100m for a player who has more bookings than goals or assists in the Premier League. By Ben McAleer for WhoScored. “We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United,” said Ruben Amorim after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton. The manager had paced up and down the touchline as his side managed just one shot on target in the match – and that was a Bruno Fernandes penalty.
![[Antony had a bright start at United but it did not last long.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3594a2168a1f5250f4aea92119c17a59ae3e803d/0_223_4500_2700/master/4500.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
United were always going to need time to adapt to the manager’s ideas but even he knows that a return of 11 points from 11 games is not good enough. “Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United, imagine what this is for me,” said Amorim. “We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach.”.
One of Amorim’s problems is that he is working with a group of players who were signed to suit his predecessor. Erik ten Hag was given plenty of freedom to pursue the players he wanted to sign. At times he only seemed interested in players he had worked with before, most recently summer signings Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt.
Ten Hag was also influential in the club’s decision to sign Antony from Ajax for €100m in 2022. The Brazilian had a brilliant start, scoring in his first three Premier League games – against Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton – but his collapse since then has been so extreme that he must go down as one of the worst signings in Premier League history.
The 2022 window was dominated by United’s failed pursuit of Frenkie de Jong. Going into his first campaign at the club, Ten Hag sought to assemble a squad that would buy into his philosophy and his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. Lisandro Martínez moved from Ajax to bolster the backline; Tyrell Malacia was signed from Feyenoord to provide competition and cover at left-back; and Casemiro, one of the most decorated midfielders in history, arrived from Real Madrid after United failed to convince De Jong to swap Barcelona for Manchester.
