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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Why Manchester United should be encouraged by Antony's start in the Premier League

Former Manchester United centre-back Mikael Silvestre has been encouraged by the 'promising start' Antony has made to life at Old Trafford, hailing the way he has quickly adapted.

Among manager Erik ten Hag's top transfer targets for much of the summer window, Antony sealed an £85.5million move, including add-ons, to M16 on transfer deadline day, following several weeks of speculation. He made his debut just three days later and scored in the 3-1 win over Arsenal.

The Brazilian, who worked with Ten Hag at Ajax, has started every game since arriving in M16 and has scored in each of his first three Premier League appearances. He scored a Goal of the Season contender in the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City and netted United's equaliser in Sunday's 2-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

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His fast start to life in England has eased fears that he would not be able to live up to expectations in the Premier League, despite Ten Hag making it crystal clear that he was his preferred target to strengthen the Reds' wide options throughout the summer. And for former United defender Silvestre, the 22-year-old's blistering start to life in United colours offers plenty of encouragement.

"He was involved not long after joining the club and scored in a big game against Arsenal," Silvestre told bettingexpert. "He got his first start.

"He scored and since then he's been performing and scoring. He is delivering what was expected of him, linking up with players. His adaptation is very fast and promising. It's a promising start for sure."

Despite scoring against both Arsenal and City, Antony's performances were, in truth, both largely ineffective. He went missing for long periods against the Gunners and was criticised by Reds legend Paul Scholes for failing to help out defensively in the defeat against City.

Against Everton, however, he produced his most complete performance in United colours so far, earning plenty of plaudits from Ten Hag.

"In the first game, he was not always that good defending-wise but today [vs Everton] he was really good, really disciplined," said the United manager. "He had good positioning, good anticipation, so he had quite an impact on this team's performance."

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