Over the last few seasons, Manchester United have had their fair share of failed transfers. Names such as Jadon Sancho, Alexis Sanchez and perhaps even Paul Pogba are all figures which spring to mind.
Since the arrival of Erik ten Hag, it seems as if things haven't gotten much better in the arrivals department with many of the players signed arguably not being good enough for the Red Devils' squad.
Their 2023/24 season in general has been inconsistent, as just when Ten Hag's men finally appeared to be on the rise, they were knocked back at home to Fulham this afternoon.
The Red Devils will still be vying for a top-four spot come the end of the season and now, with just 12 games of the Premier League remaining, time is running out for the side to really hit their groove.
One first-team talent, in particular, looks set to remain on the periphery over the coming months, with the former Ajax boss having been stung by investing everything into the player during the 2022 summer transfer window.
Antony's wages at Man United
After spending £86m on Antony in the summer of 2022, everyone expected Ten Hag to know something that nobody else did.
The Brazilian winger joined United after coming off the back of a fairly solid season back in Amsterdam. He played 33 games in all competitions and managed to score 12 goals and provide ten assists for the Eredivisie side.
Whilst in charge of Antony in the Netherlands, Ten Hag evidently saw something he liked in the winger and decided he had to follow him to England at all costs, despite already having the likes of Sancho and Marcus Rashford within the clubs' ranks.
However, it wasn't only the large transfer fee which United had to fork out in order to acquire the services of the 24-year-old. As per Capology, the winger is currently on a contract worth £200k-per-week, which is a total of around £15m since arriving at the club roughly 77 weeks ago.
That hefty salary not only puts Antony in the top ten highest earners at the club, but, it also puts him ahead of the likes of Lisandro Martinez and Alejandro Garnacho – a curious fact indeed.
Antony's statistics since joining Man United
Any player who costs £86m should automatically be one of the first names on a manager's team sheet. However, of late, this hasn't been the case for Antony.
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Since joining last season, the one-time Sao Paulo man has played a total of 70 games and has contributed to a total of 13 goals and assists – only two of which have come this season in the FA Cup against Newport County.
The mercurial winger is still yet to score or create a goal in the Premier League this season despite not suffering any injuries and playing 20 games in total, with talkSPORT pundit Gabby Agbonglahor correctly describing the forward as "very frustrating" during his time in Manchester.
'Frustrating' would certainly be among the words that spring to mind among United supporters to describe Antony, with the £101m spent on the player – when totalling his £86m fee and £15m in wages – certainly representing poor business from the Old Trafford outfit.
Hopefully, under the new Sir Jim Ratcliffe regime, such costly mistakes will become a thing of the past.
