Get ready, as Manchester United will have Antony, Anthony Martial and Anthony Elanga all on the roster this season. In one position group to be exact. The arrival of Antony, a 21-year-old Ajax forward, has now been confirmed by the club.
He becomes the fifth signing of the summer, behind Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro. And it won’t be long until we see the sixth apparently.
(more on that in a bit)
Here’s more on Antony, the most expensive sale in Dutch Eredivisie history, for £80.6million with a further £4.2m in add-ons, via the club’s official release:
“Antony has 31 goals and 27 assists in 134 club appearances for Ajax and Sao Paulo, and two goals and two assists in nine senior appearances for his native Brazil.”
Moving on, the sixth player who will be signed this summer is goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. A deal for the Slovakian shot-stopper is now ‘imminent’, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
With Dean Henderson out on loan this season and David de Gea sometimes prone to errors, United need more cover in between the sticks, beyond just Tom Heaton.
So this really is a good pick-up for them.
That might be it for United this summer, unless they make one more move, which could come in the form of Sergino Dest, the far out of favor right back at FC Barcelona. The 21-year-old, who arrived at the Catalan club two years ago from Ajax for €20 million, got his senior team debut under, wait for it, Erik ten Hag.
The American has had some fine moments as a member of the Blaugranes, but he badly needs to escape Barca right now. But United need to first move on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who started strong but ended up a major bust.
There is some reported interest in AWB, with West Ham, and his former club, Crystal Palace, said to be interested.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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