Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign AFC Ajax winger Antony, reports the club’s official website. The 22-year-old, who completed his medical at Carrington on Monday, has agreed to personal terms and will join the club for a reported fee of 86 million pounds.
The Brazilian must be registered by Wednesday midday in order to play in United’s Premier League match against Leicester City on Thursday. That is thought to be unlikely because his visa and work permit are still pending. He could therefore make his debut against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.
A move to United will see Anthony reunited with former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag. He has scored 31 goals and provided 27 assists in his 134 appearances games for the Amsterdam club, while in his native Brazil, he has two goals and two assists in his nine senior games for San Paulo. The player has won two Eredivisie titles and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The Brazilian, who was just 19 when he agreed to join Amsterdam, quickly established himself as one of Ajax’s leading players – but even he could not foresee that he would one day take him to the Theatre of Dreams, nor would Manchester United.
Antony will be ten Hag’s fifth summer contract after Tyrell Marathia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro. As per the latest reports, they are also working on a deal to loan Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
United have spent more than 210 million pounds in this transfer window to support new manager ten Hag, while several players have left, including Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Edinson Cavani, and Andreas Pereira.
Anthony is United’s third highest-paid signing, behind Paul Pogba (93.3m) and Romelu Lukaku (90m).
