Ajax chief executive Edwin van der Sar has admitted that the Dutch giants felt Lisandro Martinez and Antony would have been better off staying at the Johan Cruyff Arena for another year, opposed to joining Manchester United during the summer.
Following Erik ten Hag's appointment as manager in April, it was inevitable that United, who stretched their unbeaten run in the Premier League to four matches with Saturday's 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, were going to target players from the Dutchman's former club. Countless individuals had improved under his management and several of them were pinpointed as possibilities to improve United's squad.
After quickly discovering that a pursuit for Jurrien Timber was going nowhere, United switched their attentions to Martinez, landing him in late July for £56.7million. The Reds then secured Antony's signature just over a month later, landing him for around £85m.
