Man Utd legend Stam reveals flop Ten Hag transfer left him stunned

Willem Leijgraf

• Updated: 13 Dec 2023 13:03 GMT
• 3 min read

After a season and a half, Antony's arrival at Manchester United seems to be one of the biggest transfer flops in the history of the Premier League.

Club legend Jaap Stam also did not understand why his former employer paid so much to Ajax for the 23-year-old attacker in the summer of 2022. Manchester United paid a ridiculous transfer fee of €95 million at the time and the deal can rise to €100m through bonuses.

The price that they paid for Antony created sky-high expectations and he seemed to live up to these in his first three league matches for the Red Devils. The 15-time Brazilian international scored successively against Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton. After this, however, things quickly died down and Antony has been waiting since April for his next goal in a Man Utd shirt.

Stam does not think that Antony will be successful for the club in the future. “From what I have seen of Antony, he is not good enough to play at the level that is aimed for at Old Trafford,” the former defender said on the Stick To Football podcast.

Not even the best player in Holland

"Because you’re also looking for a player who can have a difficult time and struggle when he comes in, but [we can see] where he is making progress to get to that level. When you’re looking at Antony now, at this moment, you don’t see where he can make the progress to make the next step in the Premier League to be up there with the top wingers who can make a difference.

"In Holland, he did okay but it wasn’t like he was the best player in Holland. He did okay for Ajax but then again, they’re playing in a league with a couple of good players, and the rest of the league - with all respect – are mediocre players. They’re always dominating so he could always do his trickery, put the crosses in and play a one-two.

"But at this level - and that’s down to recruitment together with the management – they need to make the right choices to bring the players in who can really make a difference in the Premier League. I was surprised by Antony’s fee."