There will be many unfamiliar things for Antony now he has joined Manchester United, but the Brazilian forward is already well acquainted with one of his new rivals.
Antony’s arrival at Old Trafford was confirmed on Tuesday, with United paying Ajax £81.3million, which could rise to £85.5m with contract-related add-ons. Once he has passed a medical and the clubs have completed all the paperwork, he will become United’s second most expensive player, behind only Paul Pogba, who joined in a £89m move from Juventus six years ago.
Antony was one of United’s priority transfer targets and will be reunited with Erik ten Hag, whom he played under for two years in Amsterdam. Ten Hag knows all about the 22-year-old’s talents, having overseen his arrival from Sao Paulo in 2020, but he also knows about his hot-headedness.
Antony was labelled an “idiot” for picking up a red card in the closing stages of Ajax’s 3-2 win over rivals Feyenoord on March 20. He received a first yellow for ripping off his shirt and celebrating with fans after scoring before getting another just minutes later to be dismissed. And that is not the only incident where his feisty nature bubbled up to the surface.
Back in February, Antony was very fortunate to escape a straight red card following a clash with Darwin Nunez in the Champions League. The incident came late in the first leg of Ajax’s last-16 clash with Benfica, when the score was 2-2.
Nunez and Antony tussled over a loose ball, with the Benfica striker pulling his opponent out of the way. After some more arm-pulling and annoyance, the two players came face to face and Antony made an aggressive motion with his forehead, sending Nunez to the floor clutching his face.
Although the Uruguayan undeniably made a meal of it, Antony was guilty of losing his composure and lashing out. The two players appeared to make up with a bit of head-holding in the aftermath but Antony was still very fortunate to avoid a red card, which would have ruled him out of the crucial second leg in Amsterdam.
As it happened, Nunez had the last laugh, scoring at the Johan Cruyff Arena to send Benfica through to face Liverpool in the quarter-finals, where his career trajectory changed. Nunez ended up netting in both legs of Benfica’s tie with the Reds, and while Liverpool progressed 6-4 on aggregate, they were suitably impressed enough to buy Nunez for a club-record fee which could rise to £85m.
Meanwhile, Antony has sealed his own big-money move to a dream club – and the two star signings will face each other again on the pitch. Ironically, Nunez missed Liverpool’s recent 2-1 defeat by United at Old Trafford due to a suspension, picked up for a headbutt on Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen.
Antony and Nunez are not due to meet on the pitch until March 4 – so a reunion of the Premier League ’s star signings will have to wait.
