Ajax sign Antony replacement Conceicao – what this means for Man Utd
Robin Bairner
- 22 Jul 2022 07:43 BST
- 3 min read
Ajax announced on Thursday that they had completed the signing of Francisco Conceicao from Porto, the man who is expected to arrive at the club as Antony’s replacement.
The Brazil international is, of course, seen as one of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s major summer transfer targets. The Red Devils have been courting the 22-year-old for several weeks, and though a deal has appeared close at times, in recent times, nothing imminent appears in the pipeline.
Could Ajax’s purchase of Conceicao change things for Man Utd? After all, it feels the Old Trafford side need a break; their expected summer revolution has been slow to take place, with just three signings made so far.
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How Ajax expect to use Conceicao
While Conceicao arrives at Ajax as part of a suite of players expected to replace Sebastien Haller, who has moved to Borussia Dortmund on a big-money move, the Portuguese attacker is seen as a player who will initially slot in on a wide position.
This is certainly promising news for Man Utd, but they are still likely to have difficulty prising Antony from Amsterdam. Ajax are in a strong position regarding that deal. They have made plenty of money from their summer transfer campaign thus far. Not only has Haller gone, so too have Ryan Gravenberch and Lisandro Martinez on big money. They are cash rich and do not want to dismantle their side.
Coming soon to 𝗔𝗠𝗦...
Olá, @FConceicao7! 👋— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) July 21, 2022
This was underlined by technical director Gerry Hamstra earlier this week, when he told AD: “We all have our ambitions at Ajax. Then six starting players can’t suddenly leave either. Only this year we had to deal with a combination of circumstances. The one-on-one replacements cost more than the guys you get to grow a year behind someone.
“So, Conceicao is another example of bringing the successor, in this case Antony, into your selection. We now want to keep this group together. I assume that no one leaves this core anymore. Of course, you can never say never, I’ve learned that by now.”
Hamstra’s crucial phrase in this comment is ‘grow a year behind someone’. Clearly he is intimating that Antony is not for sale this summer but could be in 2023.
Will Man Utd sign Antony?
While Ajax don’t want to let Antony leave, they have lost other players they did not want to.
“We really didn’t want to lose Martínez, but with such high transfer amounts everyone understands how it works," Hamstra admitted.
Ajax have effectively admitted that they felt they ripped Man Utd off for Martinez, and the Amsterdam club have opened the door to another such deal for Antony – if they feel he is a player worth spending over the odds for.
