Manchester United has experienced a fair share of failed transfers in the past several seasons. Figures that immediately come to mind are Jadon Sancho, Alexis Sanchez, and maybe even Paul Pogba.

Things don’t seem to have improved much in the arrivals area since Erik ten Hag arrived, with many of the players that signed maybe not being good enough for the Red Devils’ roster.

Their 2023–24 campaign has been uneven overall, as this afternoon’s loss to Fulham at home came just as Ten Hag’s team seemed to be turning the corner.

With just 12 Premier League games left, the Red Devils are in danger of finishing in the top four at the end of the season. This means that they need to find their rhythm quickly.

A certain first-team player appears destined to be on the sidelines in the upcoming months after the former Ajax manager lost out on giving the player his all during the summer transfer window of 2022.

Anthony’s pay at Manchester United

Everyone expected Ten Hag to know something that no one else did after Ten Hag spent £86 million on Antony in the summer of 2022.

The Brazilian winger had just finished a respectable season back in Amsterdam when he joined United. He participated in 33 games across all competitions, contributing 10 assists and 12 goals to the Eredivisie team.

Even though the team already had players like Sancho and Marcus Rashford, Ten Hag clearly saw something in the winger when overseeing Antony in the Netherlands and made the decision to follow him to England at any costs.

Man-United, Marcus-Rashford-Hojlund
Nevertheless, United had to pay more than just a hefty transfer fee to get the 24-year-old’s talents. According to Capology, the winger has a contract of £200k per week, or over £15 million altogether, since he joined the team about 77 weeks ago.

It’s interesting to note that Antony’s large pay places him not only among the top ten earnings at the team but also ahead of players like Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martinez.

The numbers for Antony since joining Manchester United

A manager should always have one of the top names on the squad sheet—especially for a player who costs £86 million. But Antony hasn’t been experiencing this lately.

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The former Sao Paulo player has participated in 70 games since joining the team last year, helping to score 13 goals and provide two assists, just two of which have come this season in the FA Cup against Newport County.

Despite playing 20 games this season and not picking up an injury, the winger is still unable to score or set up a goal in the Premier League. TalkSPORT commentator Gabby Agbonglahor accurately described the forward as “very frustrating” during his time in Manchester.

Supporters of United would undoubtedly use the word “frustrating” to characterise Antony, since the £101 million that the Old Trafford team spent on the player—when adding his £86 million cost and £15 million in wages—represents really bad business.

Hopefully, these expensive errors will disappear under the incoming Sir Jim Ratcliffe administration.